CSK vs SRH, IPL 8 preview: SRH face CSK test at Chepauk

SRH will bank on their famed foreign recruits to come good against IPL’s most pedigreed team. (Source: PTI)

CSK and SRH battle it out in the IPL 8 contest in Chennai on Saturday. Here’s a look at the strengths and weaknesses of the two units.

Chennai Super Kings

The Chennai Super Kings started their campaign with a stunning one-run win over the Delhi Daredevils on Thursday, and they will prefer a less close result against the Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday. For a team with their kind of batting firepower, 150 — which they made against Delhi — is a below par score. And they will be further tested against SRH who boast of a superior pace attack than DD.

Strengths: While one would expect batting to be their bread and butter, it was Chennai’s bowling that won them the game. On a pitch that had something in it for both pacers and slower bowlers, CSK’s attack came all guns blazing. Ashish Nehra rolled back the years as he cleaned up the DD top-order with a three-wicket burst. Ishwar Pandey, Mohit Sharma and Dwayne Bravo then struck timely blows after R Ashwin had choked the run flow in the middle overs. In fact, MS Dhoni wasn’t even required to bowl Ravindra Jadeja.

Weaknesses: CSK captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s form should be a worry. While Dhoni has been scoring consistently, he is failing to connect as cleanly as he once would.That customary late super-flourish, like a late 70s art-movie climax, never comes.

On Thursday, Dhoni walked in during the 13th over and was 17 off 23 balls by in the 20th. He did hit two sixes to give a glimpse of the dasher, but his eventual strike rate remained 111, as against a T20 career S/R of 136.36. It may be argued that his twin sixes off Nathan Coulter-Nile (one of which was a thick edge) played a huge role in the team’s eventual win, but it could just as well be countered by the fact that his snail-paced innings, in the first place, was responsible in limiting CSK to a sub-par score. Therefore, not just Saturday’s game, but the whole IPL 8 will help us deduce if it’s a terminal condition or a short-term blip with Dhoni.

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Sunrisers Hyderabad will bank on their famed foreign recruits to come good against IPL’s most pedigreed team.

Strengths: Strength: It’s a well-rounded team in both departments. There batting is led by the aggressive Australian David Warner and India’s Shikhar Dhawan. Lending depth to their middle order is the prolific New Zealander Kane Willamson. Their bowling to is no short of spunk, with Dale Steyn and Trent Boult in their ranks. Among the Indians, they have ace swing exponents, the two Kumars from Meerut — Bhuvaneshwar and Praveen — while Ishant Sharma, who missed out on the World Cup is fit and raring to go. In the spin department, Karn Sharma will look to do what fellow leggies Imran Tahir and Amit Mishra did against the CSK on Thursday.

Weaknesses: This being their first match this season, SRH are yet to exhibit one.

Source:: Indian Express