Clash of Kings to light up Chennai

Top of the tree, six wins on the trot — one can call Chennai Super Kings the yellow juggernaut of the season. M.S. Dhoni & Co. would be eager to make it a special ‘seven’ against the capricious Kings XI Punjab side at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Thursday. The heat is on the visiting Kings.

With legendary Australian Adam Gilchrist unlikely to feature in the game, the onus is on his compatriot David Hussey to forget his last-over trauma against Mumbai and lead the side with confidence. The hot and cold performance of the team is typified by the inconsistency of their top-order batsmen who can chase down a score of 190 one day and can’t take the total beyond 130 the next.

Though youngsters Mandeep Singh and Manan Vohra have been providing them good starts, it’s the likes of the clean-hitting David Miller and Hussey who have it in them to turn matches around. Azhar Mahmood has faltered with the bat while Shaun Marsh is trying to find his feet after playing a solitary game. Punjab’s batsmen have put the opposition under pressure but failed to keep the momentum going by losing wickets in a heap.

In contrast, bowlers have been consistent for Punjab. Praveen Kumar has been the standout with his dead-

With six straight victories behind them, Chennai Super Kings will look for win No.7 as they take on Kings XI Punjab on their home turf

ly swing bowling early on and cunning slower ones at the death. Manpreet Gony, Piyush Chawla and Harmeet Singh have done well in patches. Mahmood has been their go-to man in crises and can be lethal on his day.

Coming to Chennai, time and time again Dhoni has delivered the goods at the end. Suresh Raina’s purple patch with the willow is a sign of the southpaw peaking at the right time. It will be once again up to Mike Hussey and Wriddhiman Saha to repeat the opening dose they provided in the last game at Chepauk.

Despite winning half a dozen matches in a row, CSK’s bowling has been a cause for concern. In the last two games their ace offspinner R. Ashwin didn’t finish his quota of four overs. He was also a bit expensive. Ravindra Jadeja’s success with the ball in the last match has given more spinning options for Dhoni. Mohit Sharma would look to carry his great form in the Pune match forward.