Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings have already played each other in the IPL 2018 in a game that turned out to be a nail-biter. CSK chased down 203 off the penultimate ball of the game, and that turned out to be the last game for Kolkata’s Vinay Kumar, who failed to defend 17 in that over and ended with match figures of 0/35 in just 1.5 overs.
This promises to be another cracker of a game, with CSK getting stronger each game and KKR losing losing the plot in the middle of the season. The game will be a battle between Dinesh Karthik and MS Dhoni, and we all know who has been winning the battle over the last 15 years 😉
Teams
Both of these teams have an extremely explosive top order with the Chennai batsmen slightly in better form while Kolkata clearly have a wider range of bowling options that CSK do. Both teams have won the Indian Premier League twice in the past and CSK look more likely to lift the title this year, currently sitting pretty at the top of the table. Playing at the Eden Gardens, however, will be +1 for KKR as they have much better spinning options in Narine, Chawla and Kuldeep. CSK have been switching between Tahir, Bhajji and Karn Sharma, and none have been as good as expected, to be honest.
Kolkata’s squad depth has come under the scanner as they don’t have many bowling options, with the constantly swapped in and out duo of Mitch Johnson and Tom Curran have both been ineffective. Uthappa has been getting starts but unable to convert. Captaincy will be of high importance and while DK has been in prime form, he has made glaring captaincy errors in IPL 2018 thus far.
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Chennai have proved how flexible their squad is, with Ambati Rayudu scoring at every position he has batted at and MS Dhoni displaying brilliant form, regardless of when he comes in or what number he bats. They have had a different match winner in each win and have only lost two games despite having injuries and players being forced out.
Overall
Kolkata don’t have bowlers they can go to when they need a wicket and using their spinners as wicket taking options won’t work too well here as the CSK line up have many that play spin well. Chennai hold the head-to-head advantage of 11-6 between these two in the Indian Premier League and I’m backing Chennai to win and improve that record.
