Indian Premier League 2019 Match 41, Chennai Super Kings vs Sunrisers Hyderabad: Preview, likely XIs, predictions

Well, this is odd. Chennai Super Kings head into their clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Tuesday, April 22, on a two-match losing streak. Hyderabad – who began that streak – seem to have rediscovered their mojo at home, and can move as high as No. 2 on the table if they secure a win.

It’s not quite panic stations for Chennai, though. Their form for most of the season was sublime, and that helped them open up a gap on the rest of the league – it’s holding them in good stead during this mini-crisis.

That said, the recovery is likely to come via a very predictable source – MS Dhoni. The absence of the captain was perhaps the reason why Chennai lost that first match, against Hyderabad, and he was the reason they nearly escaped with a victory, against Bangalore on Sunday.

Chennai are a well-oiled machine when Dhoni is pushing the buttons, and Hyderabad will have to find a way to best him, both the batter and the captain. Dhoni will have to effect an improvement on the whole batting line-up. The bowlers seem to be doing the job, but it’s the batting that let them down in the two losses.

Hyderabad have similar concerns though – the form of David Warner and Jonny Bairstow shouldn’t cloud the fact that their middle order has looked as reliable as Jet Airways on the stock market. See off those two early enough, and Chennai might arrest this slump before it does bigger damage.

Head to head

Chennai and Hyderabad have clashed 11 times over the years. It’s a rivalry dominated by Chennai. Hyderabad’s victory against them last week was only their third in history. Chennai have seen them off the 8 other times.

Last year, the teams clashed 4 times – twice in the league, and twice in the Playoffs. Chennai won each time, including in the final, and Hyderabad, despite that victory the other day, are up against it.

Key players

MS Dhoni (Chennai Super Kings): The Chennai captain will be key in his team getting back to winning ways. He was sublime against Bangalore, scoring a career-best 84* to take the side within two runs of victory, even as the rest of the batters crumbled. He will need to be at his witty best to find a way past the Warner-Bairstow combo Hyderabad are so reliant on.

Jonny Bairstow (Sunrisers Hyderabad): The Englishman has struck up an unlikely alliance with David Warner at the top. The Chennai clash will be his last in IPL 2019 – a good tournament for the opener, who will head into the World Cup buoyed by this form. He will want to end his campaign on a high, so Chennai will do well to watch out.

Likely XIs

Chennai Super Kings: Faf du Plessis, Shane Watson, Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Imran Tahir, Mohit Sharma

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Jonny Bairstow (wk), David Warner, Kane Williamson (c), Vijay Shankar, Deepak Hooda, Yusuf Pathan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma

Prediction

A Chennai win. They have snuffed teams out at home. They will rely on home form to get back to their best.