CSK seeks to regain momentum

The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai side was hammered by Mumbai at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Saturday. While Chennai has five wins from seven games with 10 points in its kitty, Delhi languishes at the bottom with just a couple of wins from seven games and four points. Despite Saturday’s defeat, Chennai will be looking to continue its dream run in the league. Most of the CSK batters -- Shane Watson, Ambati Rayadu, and skipper Dhoni -- are in form. 

Also, Suresh Raina found his touch with the willow as the southpaw smashed a 47-ball unbeaten 75 against Mumbai, comprising six fours and four sixes. While Rayudu has amassed 329 runs from seven games, averaging 47, Dhoni and Watson have accumulated 235 and 203 runs respectively. 

The Chennai batters have fired on more than one occasion, guiding CSK home. The yellow brigade has the ability to put a massive total on board or chase any challenging target. In the bowling department, Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar have been impressive, leading Chennai’s pace attack. But in the previous match, Chahar got injured so this might worry the Southern outfit.

While Thakur has eight wickets from six games, Dwayne Bravo have seven wickets from seven games. Also, all-rounder Watson has six wickets with an economy rate of around eight. Leg-spinner Imran Tahir, medium-pacer Dwayne Bravo and leggie Karn Sharma have also made breakthroughs for CSK at crucial moments.

On the other hand, Delhi will be high on confidence under new skipper Shreyas Iyer, who led his side to a thumping 55-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders. However, Delhi needs to continue its winning spree to keep itself in the play-off hunt. The Delhi franchise will hope that Iyer continues to lead from the front as he did with a match-winning unbeaten 93 against Kolkata. 

Also, other batters like opener Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant and all-rounders Glenn Maxwell will need to come out with their best against Chennai. Delhi’s bowling came together as a unit against Kolkata and to trouble a star-studded CSK batting line-up, the visitor will have to bowl out of its skin. Overall, in its current form, Chennai will be the favourite in Monday’s game at its adopted home ground here.