CSK’s DOMINANCE

“Sometimes you have to put your hands up and applaud the best”. Chennai Super Kings have been in brilliant form this season. After two years of exile from the IPL, this is how they respond. Out of the 8 games played, they’ve won 6 and lost 2. Defeats against KXIP and MI weren’t bad performances either. Chennai have made it to the playoffs in every season they’ve played the IPL and this season looks no different. CSK lead the league table with 12 points and a positive 0.553 run-rate. How far can they go? CSk vs KKR is bound to be yet another cracker of a game.

KOLKATA’S CHANCES

KKR are currently 4th on the league table and they’ve had a mixed run of form. They’ve registered 4 wins in 8 games with a pleasant blend of young talent and masterly experience. KKR have to use their resources to the optimum to make it to the playoffs. The big guns are slowly but steadily getting into their grooves. It’s time for them to strike the iron when it’s hot. With MI in complete shambles, KKR have to pounce on this chance to qualify for the playoffs.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

In the reverse fixture at the MA Chidambaram Stadium CSK chased down a mammoth 202 set by the Knight Riders. Andre Russell’s 88 off 36 balls was matched by Sam Billings’ 56 off 23. The men in yellow won that game by 5 wickets.

VENUE: EDEN GARDENS, KOLKATA

PITCH CONDITIONS

176 has been the average first innings score on the Eden Garden wicket. However, teams have resorted to chasing on here. 3 out of the 4 games have resulted in the chasing team’s favour. The boundaries aren’t the widest which enables the batters to go for the big hits. CSK and KKR have some magnanimous hitters in their ranks. The white cherry is expected to fly to all corners of the park.

STATS AT THE VENUE

Trivia: On September 21, 2017, Kuldeep Yadav became the third Indian bowler to take a hat-trick in ODIs. Kuldeep removed Matthew Wade, Ashton Agar and Pat Cummins.

TEAM NEWS

Lungi Ngidi in his IPL debut was mighty impressive. He’s likely to be persisted with.

KM Asif picked 2 wickets against DD but wasn’t able to keep a check on the run-rate. However, he’s likely to keep his place.

KKR’s Nitish Rana was out retired after an injury. If he doesn’t recover, Ishank Jaggi is likely to replace the left-hander.

EXPECTED PLAYING 11

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS

Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana/Ishank Jaggi, Dinesh Karthik(c/wk), Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Mitchell Johnson, Shivam Mavi.

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS

Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(c/wk), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Karn Sharma, Lungi Ngidi, KM Asif, Harbhajan Singh.

FANFIGHT FANTASY TEAM FOR KKR vs CSK

TEAM 1

TEAM 2

PLAY FANTASY CRICKET AND FOOTBALL ON FANFIGHT. CREATE YOUR BEST 6 AND WIN BIG. To participate in the KKR vs CSK on FanFight click here.

PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR

CAPTAIN COOL

Dinesh Karthik has been in fine touch in this year’s IPL. He’s led his team from the front and captaincy seems very natural to him. The stylish wicket-keeper batsman has played the role of both aggressor and anchor to perfection. Karthik has got off to starts in every game so far but hasn’t reached beyond 43. It wouldn’t be a bad ploy if Dinesh moves to number 4 on the batting list. He’ll be the man to watch out for.

Scores in IPL 2018 – 35*, 26, 29, 19, 42, 43*, 18 & 23. His strike-rate in this year’s IPL – 138.23

SUPERMAN SHANE

If you throw Watson in an ocean he’ll come up with a fish in his mouth. Well, we’re not throwing Watson anywhere. It’s only an analogy stating whatever Watson tries Watson can do. And with the kind of form he’s in, he can do absolutely anything. Shane Watson has been in one hell of a run this season. He’s been scoring a multitude of runs and scoring them with tremendous ease.

Watson has scored 286 runs in 8 games at 35.12. His strike-rate over these 8 innings has been 166.28. Shane also scored the second hundred of the 2018 IPL season. Can he continue his belligerent form? Watson is an absolute must in FanFight’s fantasy cricket team. At 9.6 credits he surely is on the expensive side, but he’s worth every penny. He’s been a massive player for CSK and will be the player to watch out for.

DID YOU KNOW?

Watson is only 97 runs away from reaching 3000 IPL runs. He’ll be the 14th player and only the second Aussie to reach that landmark.

Sunil Narine has the best economy in the Indian Premier League. Narine’s 6.44 in 90 games is the best for any bowler. The next best, Anil Kumble, 6.57.

Andre Russell’s strike-rate in the IPL is an astonishing 180.36. In this year’s IPL, Russell’s strike-rate has skyrocketed to 202.94. Bravo with 196.66 isn’t far behind for the year 2018.

WHO WILL WIN KKR vs CSK?

There are very few teams in the IPL who can match CSK’s brilliance. This year the men in yellow have been leaps and bounds above every team. KKR have had muddled run. Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Dinesh Karthik and Chris Lynn all have to fire for KKR to come out victorious. CSK’s death over bowling hasn’t been the best and that’s one area they’ve looked slightly vulnerable. However, CSK have a superlative squad as far as team combination is concerned. For game 33, CSK vs KKR, it’s advantage CSK.

SQUADS

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS

Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Chris Lynn, Dinesh Karthik(c), Robin Uthappa, Mitchell Johnson, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Shubman Gill, Ishank Jaggi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Nitish Rana, Vinay Kumar, Apoorv Wankhade, Rinku Singh, Shivam Mavi, Cameron Delport, Javon Searles, Tom Curran.

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS

MS Dhoni(c), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Faf du Plessis, Harbhajan Singh, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Kanishk Seth, Lungi Ngidi, Dhruv Shorey, Murali Vijay, Sam Billings, Mark Wood, Kshitiz Sharma, Monu Kumar, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur, N Jagadeesan, David Willey.