IPL 2020, CSK vs DC: 3 player battles to watch out for
Stunned by the unfancied Rajasthan Royals in their second match, Chennai Super Kings will be keen to get their act together when they take on Delhi Capitals in the seventh match of IPL 2020 at the Dubai International Stadium on Friday.
While Chennai Super Kings went down to RR in their previous game, Delhi Capitals got their campaign off to an impressive start following a great contest against Kings XI Punjab. The Capitals would be glad to have pulled off the victory in the Super Over, as KXIP needed just one to win off three balls in the last over of the chase.
Head to head, MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings have a much superior record over the Delhi Capitals in the IPL. They have won 15 of the 21 clashes between the two teams while Delhi have been triumphant only in six. DC would be keen to improve that record this year.
With Chennai and Delhi all set to clash in the IPL on Friday, here’s a look at three player battles to keep an eye on.
Also see:- Yesterday IPL match result
IPL 2020: 3 key player battles in CSK vs DC
#1. Faf du Plessis vs Kagiso Rabada
This will be the battle of the two in-form South Africans. Former Proteas skipper Faf du Plessis has, by far, been Chennai’s best batsman so far. He played the perfect supporting role to Ambati Rayudu, remaining unbeaten on 58 from 44 in the successful chase against Mumbai Indians.
Against Rajasthan, he was kind of a sole warrior, smashing 72 from 37 with one four and seven sixes. It was an incredible display of power-hitting but was overshadowed by Sanju Samson’s brilliance on the same day. With the kind of form he is in, du Plessis will be confident of taking on any bowler.
Meanwhile, Kagiso Rabada just continued from where he left off last season. Bowling with quick pace and nagging accuracy, he made a target of 158 against KXIP look much bigger, giving nothing away. He was also among the wickets, getting the big scalps of Glenn Maxwell and K Gowtham.
In the Super Over that followed, the South African fast bowler yet again stood up with two wickets to seal the game in Delhi’s favour. On current form, Rabada will be very difficult to face. It will need a batsman in full flow to compete against him. Du Plessis seems like the logical choice.
#2. Shikhar Dhawan vs Deepak Chahar
Experienced opener Shikhar Dhawan had a poor start to IPL 2020, getting run out cheaply following a terrible mix-up with Prithvi Shaw. He would be keen to put the failure behind him and start afresh.
Dhawan had a key role to play in Delhi’s re-emergence as a competitive outfit last season. He formed a prolific opening partnership with Shaw and got the franchise off to many good starts.
With 521 runs in 16 matches at a strike rate in excess of 135, Dhawan had a memorable IPL 2019 with the bat. The southpaw has the ability to score a rapid pace in the initial overs and get the team off to flying starts.
Against Chennai, Dhawan would face a serious challenge from Deepak Chahar. The CSK pace bowler would be opening the innings for Chennai and has proved to be a tough man to face.
Chahar’s strength is to bowl tight line and lengths as well as to frustrate the batsmen into playing false strokes. He also has the variations to catch the opponents off guard. It will be his major responsibility to keep Dhawan quiet at the start. If Chahar is able to do so, he could end up inducing a false stroke or two from Dhawan.
#3. Marcus Stoinis vs Ravindra Jadeja
It wouldn’t be wrong to say that had Marcus Stoinis not smashed that incredible 53 from 21 against Punjab, the result of the contest could have been very different.
Coming into the IPL under pressure after struggling in England on his international comeback, Stoinis put the disappointment behind him with a sizzling batting show. He cleared the field with ease, particularly towards the end of the innings.
Most of Stoinis’ big hits against Punjab came against the pace bowlers. In fact, a majority of his runs came in one over against Chris Jordan. The task of scoring quick wouldn’t be as easy against quality spinners.
The experienced Ravindra Jadeja will need to take the lead here. The left-arm spinner has had two poor games so far but has the ability to bounce back. At his best, Jadeja can run through his overs before the opposition batsmen can even get a hang of him. He can fire in deliveries, giving no room to the batsmen to free their arms. If Jadeja manages to find his mojo against Delhi, Stoinis will be in for a stiff challenge.