Defending champions look to breach CSK's fortress

Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)

Chennai Super Kings have won five of their six matches, but are only a place above Kolkata Knight Riders, who have won three of their five completed matches.

Knight Riders, unlike some of the other teams this season, have relied on more than just two or three players for victories, and thankfully for them, one of those is not Sunil Narine. He has not been among the wickets, but has stalled the flow of runs with an economy of 7.35.

If they don't play him on Tuesday, Knight Riders will have to find a way of keeping the middle overs quiet since their other spinners aren't as effective currently. Their pacers, meanwhile, are in top form and among the wickets. One issue they need to rectify is winning matches batting first. All their three wins have come while chasing, after winning the toss all three times. Even though they would have preferred a win over Rajasthan Royals two days ago, a point from that washed-out match still keeps them third in the table.

Super Kings are unbeaten at their fortress this year, making it eight matches in a row overall even though they didn't play in Chennai last season. Despite being in better form than Knight Riders, their story has been somewhat similar - pacers have been their match-winners, led by Ashish Nehra, and their frontline spinner R Ashwin has not taken as many wickets but has stopped the runs with an economy rate of seven per over. They also rely heavily on their top order. Not once have Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith been dismissed cheaply in the same match this season, and if Knight Riders can do that, Super Kings will be in unfamiliar territory with a so-far unexposed lower order required to consolidate.

Chennai Super Kings WWLWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Kolkata Knight Riders LWWLW

There comes at least one match every season, every year, every IPL when Yusuf Pathan takes off his (underperforming) cloak like a boxer and hammers everything that is thrown at him. Ninety-one runs in five matches, high score of 40* and a strike rate of 124.65 is not what you expect in the stats table in front of Yusuf's name. A rollicking innings will give Knight Riders the momentum they need to show a more dominating side of themselves.

Ravindra Jadeja has leaked runs the way franchises splurge money for Yuvraj Singh in auctions these days. Since he's not required as much as a batsman currently, his role as bowler is in focus. With an economy of 10.15 until their last match, the pressure on Jadeja was increasing before he responded with 3 for 22 against Kings XI Punjab. Can he continue to perform this way through the rest of the tournament?

Stats and trivia

"It is unsettling and disturbing, but we do not have a choice, we have to deal with the issue. The attack has always revolved around him, but if we do not play him, we will have to wait and see what can be done. We've got enough spinners to trouble anyone."
A worried but confident Gautam Gambhir on Sunil Narine's possible absence