Punjab Kings won the toss and decided to bowl first against Chennai Super Kings in a crucial encounter for both these teams in the first Indian Premier League 2024 match being played at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala. (Follow Live)
PBKS were once again being led by Sam Curran as their regular skipper Shikhar Dhawn continues to heal from an injury he suffered earlier during the tournament.
Ruturaj Gaikwad lost yet another toss and said that despite losing 10 tosses winning five of those games was a positive.
Playing XIs
Punjab Kings: Jonny Bairstow, Rilee Rossouw, Shashank Singh, Sam Curran(c), Jitesh Sharma(w), Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Rahul Chahar, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh
Impact Subs: Prabhsimran Singh, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Tanay Thyagarajan, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Rishi Dhawan
Chennai Super Kings: Ajinkya Rahane, Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Daryl Mitchell, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w), Mitchell Santner, Shardul Thakur, Richard Gleeson, Tushar Deshpande
Impact Subs: Sameer Rizvi , Simarjeet Singh, Shaik Rasheed, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki
PBKS has been a difficult opposition for CSK in recent times as the Super Kings have suffered defeats in all of last five matches that these two teams have played against each other.
PBKS are entering the game on the back of two dominant victories. After scaling down the largest-ever target in T20 history against Kolkata Knight Riders with ease, the Sam Curran-led side earned another convincing win in their last game against the Super Kings.
Jonny Bairstow's return to form has been a huge positive for the Kings who were facing top-order woes before their win against KKR. The bowling and the lower-order has held up fine for PBKS who are eyeing a late dash to the play-offs by stringing together continuous victories.
After looking like one of the better teams early in the season, CSK campaign has been derailed by three losses in their last four matches. With five wins and five losses in 10 matches, they are in a spot of bother especially if they lose this match.
Batting looks heavily dependent on just two names, Shivam Dube and skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad with MS Dhoni chipping in with late boundaries.
In the bowling department, CSK have been a bit unlucky with injury and availability issues. In their last match against the same opponent, CSK could not play Matheesha Pathirana and Tushar Deshpande due to fitness concerns and Deepak Chahar walked out of the ground after bowling just two balls.
