Overview
In mid-April, just two weeks into the Indian Premier League (IPL), it seemed as though Delhi Capitals were as good as eliminated. The batting had been dismal, the key bowlers weren’t taking wickets, and they had lost their first five matches. Since then, the revival has been little short of dramatic. With almost no margin for error, Delhi have won four of the next five, and victory over Chennai Super Kings at Chepauk on Wednesday evening will put them right in the middle of the play-off traffic jam.
That’s the good news. The bad news is that they last beat Chennai in Chennai on April 14, 2010. David Warner remains from that game, testament to his incredible longevity in this most difficult of leagues, and Delhi will take some heart from the fact that Chennai have lost two games at their fortress this season. And though MS Dhoni’s side sit in second place, their recent form – two wins in the last five – hasn’t been convincing.
They do have one of the most fearsome batting line-ups in the tournament. Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad have been remarkably consistent at the top, while Ajinkya Rahane and Shivam Dube have provided timely injections of momentum in the middle order. And though he’s faced only 38 balls this season, Dhoni is striking at a rate of two runs per ball.
Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel, Delhi’s left-arm spinners – one a wrist-spinner and the other orthodox finger-spin – have played a major part in Delhi’s revival, and should enjoy the conditions in Chennai. But they will definitely miss Anrich Nortje, who has gone back to South Africa to attend to a personal emergency.
Venue and time
MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai. 7:30 PM IST
Head-to-Head
Chennai hold a 17-10 advantage in the head-to-head numbers, and have won six of their eight games at Chepauk.
Expected conditions and toss
The temperature is expected to be around 32C at the start of play, but the cloud cover and very high humidity should mean that dew comes into play later in the evening. Given that, the team winning the toss could opt to chase.
Likely Playing XIs and Impact Player
Chennai have used Ambati Rayudu as their Impact player right through, with Tushar Deshpande coming in when they bowl. Delhi have relied on the experience of Ishant Sharma, with someone like Ripal Patel making way after the batting innings. Ben Stokes is now available for Chennai, but they may not disturb a combination that has largely been successful so far.
Chennai Super Kings: Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, Ambati Rayudu, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (C, WK), Deepak Chahar, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana.
Delhi Capitals: David Warner (C), Phil Salt (WK), Mitchell Marsh, Rilee Roussouw, Manish Pandey, Axar Patel, Aman Hakim Khan, Ripal Patel, Khaleel Ahmed, Kuldeep Yadav, Mukesh Kumar.