Match Preview – Super Kings vs Punjab Kings, Indian Premier League 2022, 11th Match

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Jonny Bairstow returns to Punjab Kings’ XI after completing his quarantine on arrival from the Caribbean

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For the first time in their history, Chennai Super Kings have lost their first two matches of an IPL campaign, and Ravindra Jadeja’s team will be eager to reach the goal against Punjab Kings on Sunday.

On a battle-friendly pitch at Brabourne Stadium, Dwayne Bravo and Dwaine Pretorius will be crucial to the Super Kings’ prospects as they lack good speed options. The Super Kings have struggled without Deepak Chahar, as the team lacked a bowler who can strike within the first six overs – a role in which Chahar has thrived. In both losses, against Kolkata Knight Riders and Lucknow Super Giants, none of the Super Kings pacers took a wicket during that stage; with Adam Milne and Chris Jordan both unavailable, most notably Mukesh Choudhary and Tushar Deshpande returning expensive figures against the Super Giants.
The Kings, meanwhile, have suffered a loss to the Knight Riders who achieved a 206 chase in their first match against Royal Challengers Bangalore. The Kings bowlers could use some improvement as they only took six wickets in total from two matches.

While the presence of Kagiso Rabada will be a boost and Rahul Chahar has kept his batters quiet, the Kings expect more from players like Arshdeep Singh and Harpreet Brar.

On paper, both teams have a solid batting lineup, each with over 200 scores this season. Expect another run-fest on Sunday.

In the news

Jonny Bairstow is set to return to the Kings’ XI after completing his quarantine upon arrival from the Caribbean. The aggressive English batter will largely replace West Indian all-rounder Odean Smith. Raj Bawa could make way for pacesetter Sandeep Sharma.

Adam Milne missed the Super Kings’ second game due to injury, but head coach Stephen Fleming says he’s “not too far off” from returning. If fit, the New Zealander will soon replace one of Choudhary or Deshpande.

probable XIs

Chennai Super Kings : 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 2 Robin Uthappa, 3 Moeen Ali, 4 Shivam Dube, 5 Ambati Rayudu, 6 Ravindra Jadeja (capt), 7 MS Dhoni (wk), 8 Dwayne Bravo, 9 Dwaine Pretorious, 10 Adam Milne, 11 Tushar Deshpande /Mukesh Choudhary

Punjab Kings: 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Mayank Agarwal (capt), 3 Bhanuka Rajapaksa (wk), 4 Liam Livingstone, 5 Jonny Bairstow, 6 M Shahrukh Khan, 7 Harpreet Brar, 8 Kagiso Rabada, 9 Rahul Chahar, 10 Sandeep Sharma, 11 Arshdeep Singh

Strategy point

Rahul Chahar has been exceptional against left-handers so he will be trusted against Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube and Jadeja. Among the spinners bowling left-handers in India since 2019, he has taken 11 wickets, the second most after Rashid Khan and has the best strike rate.

Statistics that matter

  • Since 2019, no bowler has taken more wickets than Rabada in the IPL. The South African also took the most wickets in the death overs during this period.
  • The Super Kings were the better team in this head-to-head, winning 15 out of 25 games against the Kings. The Super Kings have also won five of their eight games against the Kings since 2018.
  • Shikhar Dhawan has an average of 40+ against the Super Kings in the IPL, and 66.8 since the 2020 edition.

    • Srinidhi Ramanujam is a sub editor with ESPNcricinfo

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