On 25 April, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai will play host to a mouthwatering contest between two South Indian rivals – Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) – in Match 19 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. RCB and CSK hold, in that order, the top two positions on the points table, which demonstrates the importance of the match.
The Virat Kohli-led RCB are the only unbeaten team in the edition so far. Boosted by the performances of their new signings Glenn Maxwell, Harshal Patel and Kyle Jamieson, the Red-and-Gold brigade have won all four matches coming into this fixture.
Starting their campaign in Chennai, they adjusted to the slow-low conditions before shifting base to a high-scoring venue Mumbai, where they thrashed Rajasthan by 10 wickets in their previous game. RCB opener Devdutt Padikkal, who was a bit of-colour in Chennai, got into the grooves in that match to scored a brilliant unbeaten hundred. It must have been a huge sigh of relief for the team management.
CSK, on the other hand, have put up an impressive all-round show after losing their opening encounter against Delhi. Their versatile bowling attack should take significant credit for this. When there is swing on offer, Deepak Chahar has looked lethal with the new ball. He has already taken two four-fors in the competition.
And when there is no lateral movement with the new ball, MS Dhoni has reverted to his slow bowlers. At a venue where spinners traditionally do not enjoy much success in this format, the likes of Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja have bowled exceptionally well to tame the opposition batters.
Death bowling remains an area of concern for Dhoni. This was exposed by the likes of Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik and Pat Cummins in their previous game. Nevertheless, the inclusion of Lungi Ngidi has provided the Chennai with extra pace, which was missing earlier. Ngidi can be a solution to their death-bowling woes this edition.
The batting looks a little vulnerable. Though CSK crossed 200 against KKR in the previous match, their middle-order batting still looks patchy, despite Moeen’s brilliance as an aggressor at No. 3. But now, following the impactful show of Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad against KKR, CSK will be more confident going into this game.
Team news
Both RCB and CSK are expected to field unchanged XIs.
Head to head
Chennai Super Kings have won 17 matches and Royal Challengers Bangalore 9.
Key Players:
AB de Villiers (Royal Challengers Bangalore): As mentioned, CSK do not have a strong death-bowling unit. Who better than AB de Villiers to exploit that for RCB? If he is there till the 16th or 17th over, it will be a stiff ask for the likes of Shardul Thakur, Sam Curran and even Ngidi to contain the former South African skipper in those final overs.
Ravindra Jadeja (Chennai Super Kings): Being an afternoon fixture, the dew factor will not be significant in this particular fixture. It will allow the spinners to come into the game. Hence, Dhoni can pit Jadeja against Maxwell and de Villiers. Left-arm spinners have enjoyed a fair bit of success against both these right-handers; Jadeja especially has dismissed Maxwell five times in 11 T20 encounters.
Likely XIs:
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, Shahbaz Ahmed, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers (wk), Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Kane Richardson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammad Siraj
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Sam Curran, Lungi Ngidi, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar
Prediction:
RCB will have the upper-hand against MS Dhoni’s men in this fixture.