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IPL 2023: Royals banking on its batting power against Chennai

Chennai Super Kings enjoys a 70 per cent success rate at MA Chidambaram Stadium

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Rajasthan Royals' Yashasvi Jaiswal celebrates after scoring a half-century against Delhi Capitals. — AFP

by Leslie Wilson Jr

Published: Tue 11 Apr 2023, 8:55 PM

Four-time IPL champion Chennai Super Kings returns to its home turf and its happy hunting ground at the MA Chidambaram Stadium for what looks like an intriguing clash against inaugural winner Rajasthan Royals.

The Men in Yellow enjoy a 70 per cent success rate at the venue where they also won their last match against Lucknow Super Giants, albeit by a narrow margin of 12 runs.

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Meanwhile, the Royals will be hoping to storm the host's citadel and claim its third win of the campaign which will take them to joint place on the top of the IPL table alongside Lucknow.

Here are five keys to this interesting match

A royal record

The Royals will be inspired by its recent record against Chennai where it has won four of its last five matches.

The last time the two teams met was in May last year when the Royals dug deep to prize out a win in the final over which catapulted them into the first qualifier against eventual champion Gujarat Titans.

In terms of overall head-to-head statistics Chennai leads with 15 wins against 11.

It will be interesting to see how this match plays out.

Super morale

Chennai Super Kings heads into the match high on morale following a victory over talent-rich Mumbai Indians at the latter’s Wankhede Stadium. Ajinkya Rahane played a big role with the bat while Ravindra Jadeja proved effective with the ball.

Defeating Mumbai at its den is a huge achievement and it will bolster Chennai who has looked invincible at home. However, Rajasthan will be plotting to bring down the four-time IPL winner in its backyard.

Batting prowess

Yashasvi Jaiswal has looked very impressive playing alongside Jos Buttler while West Indian big-hitter Shimron Hetmyer has reiterated his reputation as a bona fide finisher for the Royals.

Bulter was the star performer when it scored a convincing win over Delhi and the England skipper will be the man Chennai will want to neutralize.

Forget the duck

Sanju Samson has been an absolute star for the Royals all season. But will the four-ball duck against Delhi is something that will play on his mind? Nobody likes to get out without scoring and Samson must be hurting from that setback which he will hope to make amends for if he gets the chance to bat against CSK.

Spin and pace

Another pivotal point of the Royals line-up is the pairing of pacer Trent Boult and crafty spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. Strange bedfellows, they complement each other with Boult’s strong pace and Chahal’s leg-spin posing plenty of problems to batsmen at both ends of the wicket

Although the historic venue that has something for bat and ball Chepauk is best remembered for delivering one of the greatest finishes in Test cricket where Greg Matthews spun Australia to an incredible tie against India in 1986.

Today's match

Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals

6 pm, UAE Time

Chennai

Head-to-head

Matches 26

Chennai won 15

Royals won 11

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Leslie Wilson Jr

Published: Tue 11 Apr 2023, 8:55 PM

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