Dry run on road to final

Mumbai, May 21

As the 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) nears its climax, all eyes will be on the top two sides —Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) — locking horns in the first qualifier on Tuesday at the Wankhede Stadium for a place in the final on May 27.

Both Chennai and Hyderabad finished the league stage on 18 points, but the Williamson-led side nosed ahead to the No.1 spot with a superior net run-rate and Tuesday’s winner will be guaranteed a place in the final at the same venue while the loser gets a second chance in the second qualifier in Kolkata on May 25.

Going into the match, the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led CSK hold a slight edge as they have got the better of their southern rivals twice in the league stage this season. The yellow brigade has been on a roll since making their comeback to the IPL fold after serving a two-year-ban, and have rarely lost the momentum this season with the old guard and new talent firing in unison. 

In their final league game in Pune on Sunday, CSK rode on Suresh Raina’s gutsy half-century to romp home by five wickets and stopped Kings XI Punjab from entering the playoffs. On the other hand, the Sunrisers have been on a three-game losing streak, having already sealed their playoff spot with a victory against Delhi Daredevils on May 10.

Interestingly, it was CSK who halted Sunrisers’ six-game winning streak with a comprehensive eight-wicket drubbing in Pune on May 13. On Tuesday, Sunrisers will once again hope that their bowling will do the trick against an in-form Chennai top-order. CSK, on the other hand, will bank on young South African pacer Lungi Ngidi, and with Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar and Dwayne Bravo doing their bit on the pace bowling front, CSK will hope for Harbhajan Singh to lead the spin attack with left-arm Ravindra Jadeja in the middle overs. 

Sunrisers have dropped more catches than any other team this season. On the other hand, Chennai’s conversion rate has been the best. Out of 77 attempts, SRH have taken only 72.7% of their chances. CSK have a healthy rate of 82.7% out of the 75 attempts.

Ahead of the clash, a women’s exhibition game will be played with the top Indian and foreign players taking part in the contest at the Wankhede Stadium at 2pm.  Leading women players like Kiwi Suzie Bates, Aussie Alyssa Healy, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt and England’s Danielle Wyatt will be part of the game.

1 Chennai Super Kings are the only side to have beaten all the other teams at least once this season.

8 Thirty-plus scores for Suresh Raina in IPL playoffs, and seven of them have been converted into a half-century. His 636 runs in 19 matches are the most in the playoffs. Harbhajan Singh is one short of 50 IPL wickets at the Wankhede Stadium. Mumbai Indians’ Lasith Malinga has a record of 58 wickets.

3 CSK’s top-three have handled Rashid Khan brilliantly. Rayudu (38 off 25), Watson (14 off 10) and Raina (27 off 15) have gone after him in the powerplays.

Eliminator

Kolkata Knight Riders will take on Rajasthan Royals in Wednesday’s eliminator. The winner of this match will meet Tuesday’s beaten side for a place in the final in Mumbai. — Agencies