Super Kings, Knight Riders look to keep red-hot UAE streak alive
Dhoni's team is closing in on the playoffs but Morgan's men are beginning to come together brilliantly
Sruthi Ravindranath
25-Sep-2021
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These are two teams in red-hot form, and they come into the game having beaten Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians, respectively, in their last games. So, when Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders face-off in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, it could well be a high-octane encounter.
Knight Riders did not have the greatest of starts to the season. They had won just two out of seven games and were at the bottom of the table coming into the UAE leg of IPL 2021. And now, they are at No. 4 on the table and, given their current form, they are among genuine contenders for the playoffs.
So, what has changed for them? One, the addition of Venkatesh Iyer, who has done well in both games so far - his 94 runs have come at a strike rate of 164.91 - and has significantly bumped up the Knight Riders' scoring rate, especially in the powerplay. At the top, Shubman Gill had a good game against Royal Challengers and No. 3 Rahul Tripathi scored a 42-ball 74 not out against Mumbai Indians. Their bowling has been up to the task in the last couple of games too - Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine have been bowling frugal spells and the quicks have struck regularly.
However, the middle order has continued to stutter. Eoin Morgan's form, especially, has hurt them. Of the eight teams, the Knight Riders' middle-order batters (Nos. 4 to 6) were the slowest during the first leg with a strike rate of 120. They have not had to worry about it in the last two games, as the top order has done the job, but their opponents will back themselves if they get the top three out cheaply.
As for Super Kings, there doesn't seem to be anything to worry about. They are in second spot on the table, the bowling is clicking beautifully, and the runs have been coming exactly as needed. They would want to keep the wins coming and seal the playoffs spot as soon as possible.
Likely XIs
Chennai Super Kings: 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 2 Moeen Ali, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 MS Dhoni (capt & wk), 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Sam Curran, 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Shardul Thakur, 10 Deepak Chahar, 11 Josh Hazlewood
Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Venkatesh Iyer, 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Eoin Morgan (capt), 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Andre Russell, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Lockie Ferguson, 10 Prasidh Krishna, 11 Varun Chakravarthy.
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Stats that matter
Sruthi Ravindranath is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo