IPL Final 2018, CSK vs SRH: 5 player battles to look forward to
The summit clash of the biggest T20 league in the world is here at last and quite fittingly, the two teams which ended up at the top of the table will battle it out tonight for the 2018 IPL title at Mumbai. The Sunrisers Hyderabad produced an exceptional performance in their previous place to book their place against the Chennai Super Kings in this final and the game promises to be a classic.
However, at the same time, it cannot be ignored that the CSK have beaten SRH on 3 occasions and in the 1st Qualifier, they won the game in which they looked dead at one point. So, needless to say, CSK will start this game as the favorites. That being said, a final is a totally different proposition and the pressure will tell on the favorites as well. On the other hand, SRH’s quality as a team is unquestioned and the result of the game will be determined by some of the individual battles that will take place tonight. Here is a look at the 5 most important individual battles from the big final.
#5 Deepak Chahar v Shikhar Dhawan
In 1st Qualifier at the same venue, CSK fast bowler Deepak Chahar rocked SRH when he got their star batsman Shikhar Dhawan playing on to his stumps off the 1st delivery of the match and it is a contest that will take place again tonight. That dismissal is certainly going to play on the SRH opener’s mind and hence, the contest promises to be a very interesting one.
The fast bowler has been a superb performer for CSK and has recorded an economy rate of 7.40 in 11 games, despite bowling in the Powerplays. On the other hand, Dhawan had been in excellent form prior to that duck against CSK but got back to some form in the previous game by hitting a 34. He would like to get on top of Chahar early on and it is going to be a tight contest, considering the fast bowler’s record so far.