This is a fixture dominated by MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings. But the three-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions will start as underdogs when they take the field against KL Rahul's Punjab Kings in the 8th match of the 2021 edition on Thursday in Mumbai.
So, CSK would look for inspiration from skipper Dhoni and a much-improved bowling effort after a poor start to their campaign. While CSK lost by seven wickets against Delhi Capitals, Punjab Kings eked out a four-run win over Rajasthan Royals in a high-scoring thriller.
In their first match, CSK posted a competitive 188 for seven, riding on fine contributions from Suresh Raina (54), Moeen Ali (36), Sam Curran (34), Ravindra Jadeja (26), and Ambati Rayudu (23). But they ran into Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw with the likes of Deepak Chahar, Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Jadeja and Moeen Ali all conceding big runs.
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Punjab Kings, on the other hand, had a narrow escape against RR despite posting a mammoth 221 for 6 on the board. Rahul played a captain's knock of 91 off just 50 balls. He was ably supported by big-hitting Chris Gayle (40 off 28) and Deepak Hooda (64 off 28). But their bowlers too struggled.
With the dew playing a crucial role at Wankhede Stadium, the side winning the toss would want to bowl first.
Head-to-head: This will be their 24th meeting, with Chennai Super Kings leading the head-to-head record 14-9. CSK completed a league double last season in the UAE.
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Match and telecast details:
Match: Punjab Kings vs Chennai Super Kings, 8th match of IPL 2021
Date: April 16 (Friday), 2021
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, India.
TV Channels: Star Sports Network
Live Streaming: Disney+ Hotstar
Playing XIs in the previous match:
Punjab Kings (vs Rajasthan Royals): KL Rahul (c & wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan, Jhye Richardson, Murugan Ashwin, Riley Meredith, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh.
Chennai Super Kings (vs Delhi Capitals): Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar.
Likely XIs:
Punjab Kings: KL Rahul (c & wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Shahrukh Khan, Chris Jordan, Jhye Richardson, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh.
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Sam Curran, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar.
Squads:
Punjab Kings: KL Rahul (c & wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh, Prabsimran Singh, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Murugan Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Harpreet Brar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Porel, Darshan Nalkande, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Jhye Richardson, Shahrukh Khan, Riley Meredith, Moises Henriques, Jalaj Saxena, Utkarsh Singh, Fabian Allen, Saurabh Kumar.
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Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c & wk), Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, KM Asif, Deepak Chahar, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, N Jagadeesan, Karn Sharma, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shardul Thakur, Sam Curran, R Sai Kishore, Moeen Ali, K Gowtham, Cheteshwar Pujara, Harishankar Reddy, Bhagath Varma, C Hari Nishaanth.
