The Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi will host Match 37 of the Dream11 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 when Chennai Super Kings (CSK) face Rajasthan Royals (RR) on Monday.
Both the teams have three wins against their name from nine matches and currently in the bottom half of the points table.
The last time these two sides squared off in IPL 2020, RR, kickstarting their campaign, had beaten CSK by 16 runs in Sharjah on the back of Sanju Samson’s whirlwind 74 and Steve Smith’s 47-ball 69. While RR will once target a win over CSK to revive their season, CSK will be out to settle the score and keep their hopes of reaching the playoffs alive.
With both the teams eyeing a winning return, here are the players who could change the course of the match.
Steve Smith
Steve Smith scored an enterprising 57 off 36 balls against RCB to return to form after having some low-scoring outings with the bat. The RR skipper will be looking to take off from where he had left against RCB as his side face CSK. The last time these two sides faced each other, Smith had scored 69 off 47 balls and that will also work as a motivation for the right-hander.
Robin Uthappa
The promotion at the top of the order did wonders to Robin Uthappa as he scored a fluent 45 against RCB. The right-hander scored at brisk pace, cleared the rope with ease and provided RR a solid start. He will be looking to build on to his form against CSK.
Faf du Plessis
After a few low scores, Faf du Plessis returned to form and scored a fifty against DC. With runs to his name from nine games, the right-hander is currently the leading run-getter for CSK and was the highest run-scorer for CSK when they last faced RR, scoring 72 off 37 deliveries. The right-hander will once again be someone that CSK will rely on against Steve Smith and Co.
Ambati Rayudu
Ambati Rayudu is coming into this game on the back of his quickfire 25-ball 45* against DC. The right-hander has three successive 40-plus scores and he will be looking to go one better and score a big one against RR.
Ravindra Jadeja
While the things did not go as he would have wished in the final over against DC, Ravindra Jadeja, the batsman, has been putting in some important contributions, including the one in his last game, where he scored 33* off 13 balls. CSK will want Jadeja to continue contributing with the bat
Wild Card
Kartik Tyagi
While young Kartik Tyagi had only one wicket to show for his performance against RCB, the right-arm pacer continued to impress. He was not afraid to bowl some sharp short balls and managed to hold his nerve even against AB de Villiers. Tyagi will be looking to continue his improvement and put up another fine show with the ball.
Stats
- CSK at this venue: Played 4, Won 3, Lost 1
- RR at this venue: Played 5, Won 3, Lost 2
Approaching Milestones
- This will be MS Dhoni’s 200th IPL match. He will become the first cricketer to achieve this feat. He needs respectively one dismissal and 6 runs to complete 150 IPL dismissals and 4000 IPL runs for CSK.
- Faf du Plessis needs two catches to complete 50 IPL catches for CSK.
- Steve Smith requires 3 fours and 21 runs respectively to complete 1000 IPL runs and 100 IPL fours for RR.
- Jos Buttler needs 4 sixes to complete 50 IPL sixes for RR.
