Big picture - Tall ask for KKR in Chennai
On the list of most successful spin attacks in IPL 2023, Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings rank up there, at second and third with 37 and 35 wickets respectively, just behind Rajasthan Royals' tally of 40. That's pretty much the same, but CSK's economy rate of 7.52 compared to KKR's 8.14 gives them an edge, apart from the massive backing of the home crowd where the fans will come out in huge numbers.
More than spin, what separates the two teams is their batting. CSK's top order has given them fiery starts in the powerplay, while KKR have struggled with their opening combinations before finally settling on Jason Roy and Rahmanullah Gurbaz.
In Chennai, usually considered a spin-friendly track, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway have registered two half-century and one century partnerships this season. Ajinkya Rahane's new avatar has added a different dimension to the batting, and Shivam Dube's hitting against spin (strike rate of 177.10) only adds to KKR's worries for Sunday.
KKR have largely relied on their middle-order muscle for wins this season, and even left a few of those finishes too late. That may not work against CSK because their new death-overs specialist Matheesha Pathirana has given away only 8.28 runs an over on average in the last phase this IPL, while also striking 12 times in eight innings, with his mixed bag of tricks delivered with a slingy action.
In a must-win game to stay alive in the playoffs race, KKR will have to be at their absolute best against the red-hot CSK, who had hammered a record 235 in the earlier fixture between the two teams in Kolkata.
Team news - can Ben Stokes break into the CSK XI
Dube is carrying a finger niggle and is likely to be subbed in or out again purely for his batting like CSK did in their previous game against Delhi Capitals. Ben Stokes is fit for selection but is finding it tough to break into the XI because of the limit of the four overseas slots.
The Big Question
Form guide
Chennai Super Kings WWLLW (last five completed games, most recent first)
Kolkata Knight Riders LWWLW
Impact Player strategy
KKR are likely to be unchanged, ready to bank on their spin trio of Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Suyash Sharma, who is likely to be subbed in or out for one of the batters, along with Anukul Roy.
Kolkata Knight Riders (probable XII): 1 Jason Roy, 2 Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), 3 Venkatesh Iyer, 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Andre Russell, 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Shardul Thakur, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Harshit Rana, 10 Vaibhav Arora, 11 Varun Chakravarthy, 12 Suyash Sharma
Dube is likely to be subbed in or out with one of the frontline bowlers, depending on whether they bat or bowl first.
Chennai Super Kings (probable XII): 1 Devon Conway, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 3 Ajinkya Rahane, 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 Shivam Dube, 6 Moeen Ali, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 MS Dhoni (capt, wk), 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Maheesh Theekshana, 11 Matheesha Pathirana, 12 Tushar Deshpande
Numbers that matter
CSK have to be wary of KKR's six-hitting prowess. They have struck the most sixes in IPL 2023, the most sixes against pace this IPL, and second-most sixes in death overs too this season.
Pathirana has taken the most wickets (12) at the death this edition of the IPL and Tushar Deshpande has taken the joint third-most (eight).
How KKR use Narine will be interesting because he has an impressive record against many CSK batters. Opposite Rahane, Narine has conceded 73 off 58 balls with four dismissals. Against Ambati Rayudu, Narine has done even better: 51 off 59 balls with three dismissals. And against Dhoni, Narine's record is most interesting of the lot: 39 runs off 74 balls with one dismissal.
KKR's opening pair of Roy and Gurbaz have the best strike rate against spin this IPL (minimum 30 balls faced): 231.81 and 191.6 respectively.
Dhoni has hit the most sixes in the 20th over in the IPL (59) and is miles ahead of the second batter on the list - Kieron Pollard (33).
Pitch and conditions
With the day temperature expected to touch 40 degrees Celsius, the evening will be extremely hot and humid. It remains to be seen if they dish out another black-soil pitch because of the spin resources in KKR, but it is expected to be slow again.
