Preview & Prediction: Match 4 (CSK vs RR)

Clash of the First Finalists

2008 was the only year when RR beat CSK in all the games(3) they played against each other in a season. Story off late has been quite different. CSK with a balance-rich squad has been difficult for a modest RR. Royals lost both the games to Superkings last season and there is no reason story should be any different today. CSK will have to do a lot of wrongs to lose this against a young and promising squad full of voids.

Pitch

Sharjah: Sharjah has been full of runs compared to other venues in UAE. Since they will be using the same set of pitches throughout IPL, curators are expected to prepare it in a way that lasts long. It's going to be full of runs and bowlers will be looking to avoid punishment as much as possible. Batting friendly.
 

Probable XI

RR: Yashasvi, Uthappa, Steven, Samson, Miller, Prayag, Gopal, T Curran, Archer, Unadkat, Rajpoot
Uthappa, inspite of his lost touch, is expected to play in XI due to RR's limited Indian bench strength. Buttler is under quarantine as he arrived late.

CSK: Vijay, Watson, Faf, Rayudu, Dhoni, Jadeja, S Curran, Chahar, Chawla, Ngidi
CSK, as always, are expected to go with the same squad unless Ruturaj is ready in which case, he will replace Vijay at Faf will open with Watson.
 

Head to Head
Head to Head across seasons, CSK has dominated RR with 2/3rd of the wins.

Year-wise, CSK has had the upper hand in recent years, especially last season when they won both their games vs Royals.

 

Players Match Up

-Jadhav averages 11.4 vs Fast(express) bowlers with 5 dismissals
-Buttler averages 16.5 vs Legbreak with 6 dismissals
-Samson averages 16.5 vs Legbreak with 10 dismissals
-Smith averages 18.5 vs Left-arm Orthodox with 5 dismissals
-Dhoni averages 112.7 vs Offbreak with 3 dismissals.
-Rayudu averages 2 vs Archer with SR of 31 & 2 dismissals.
-Smith averages 6 vs Jadeja with 3 dismissals in 25 balls.
-Samson has been dismissed twice in 11 balls by Deepak Chahar.
-Dhoni strikes at 222 vs Unadkat and hasn't been dismissed in the 22 balls faced.

 

Fun Stats

-CSK wins 76% of the games when Faf scores 30+ & 84% games when Rayudu scores 50+

-RR lose 64% of games when Samson scores 50+

Fantasy Team

-Sanju Samson (Captain)
Playing against his former club, Watson should unleash himself today especially after having a bad outing in the opening match. But I don't trust him to survive Archer with the new ball even though the pitch is supposed to be somewhere near a belter. Samson is always in good touch and the pattern of domestic players clicking in the season so far, Samson is a more suitable candidate. He will also be tasked with scoring most of the runs after Smith.
Since the majority won't have him as C or VC, higher chances of winning bigger pools.

-Rayudu (VC)
With the kind of touch he showed in the first match vs standard MI bowling, he can even be the Captain of your XI.

-Dhoni, Watson, Steven
Since a couple of major players unavailable, it's easy to afford all the 3 big run-getters. Dhoni might and should come up the order to capitalize on this runs full of pitch.

Yashaswi, Uthappa, Parag
Yashaswi is an exciting talent and can open fire like Padikkal did yesterday. Uthappa might anchor and score a safe 30-35. Riyan has been hitting well and is expected to bat upper in the order compared to last time along with 1-2 overs in the middle.

-Gopal, Archer & Ngidi
Going with the most trusted bowlers on a pitch where bowling is supposed to take a beating.

Why not Faf?
He didn't look in great touch through his 50 in the last match and he has a pattern(hearsay) of performing in alternate matches.

Records

Buttler and Watson have excellent numbers in CSKvRR clashes. Although Watson has played for both teams.