IPL 2018: Match 52, Delhi Daredevils vs Chennai Super Kings - Match Prediction

It will be a rather inconsequential match when Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will wrestle against hosts Delhi Daredevils (DD) in the 52^nd match of Vivo Indian Premier League’s (IPL) season 11.

However, Chennai will look to make sure that they finish at the top two positions in the IPL 2018 points table. The yellow brigade has played some impressive cricket all through the tournament. They ensured their qualification to the playoffs after defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the previous match.

The top order has been quite fantastic. The opening duo of Ambati Rayudu and Shane Watson has got Chennai off to a brilliant start on most of the occasions. Rayudu, in particular, has been in some exceptional form and has smashed a brilliant century against Hyderabad recently. His partnership of 134 runs with Shane Watson ensured Chennai reached the target of 181 with rather a comfort.

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The form of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been another hot topic in the competition so far. He has smashed most sixes in the league and has looked a class apart.

The 36-year-old Jharkhand-born Dhoni has played some exceptional shots and turned any game on its head. His form will be a huge boost for the national team too as India is set to tour England after a couple of months. Meanwhile, the bowling department has been quite inconsistent.

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Barring a few matches here and there, CSK bowlers tend to leak quite a few runs.

The spin duo of Harbhajan Singh and Ravindra Jadeja hasn’t been consistent at all. Even the pace department has been quite wayward at times.

However, their batsmen have ensured that the bowling flaws hasn’t quite affected their campaign.

On the other hand, Delhi will be playing for pride. They have again had a pretty below part season so far. However, the form of Rishabh Pant in the middle order will surely give them confidence for this match and future. Pant has been quite spectacular in the competition so far.

The southpaw in the form of Pant has literally toyed with star-studded bowling line-ups. The best innings came against the Sunrisers when he smashed a scintillating 128 of just 63 deliveries. It included 26 overs in the final over of world-class bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar.

Skipper Shreyas Iyer’s form has died out a bit as the tournament has progressed. Prithvi Shaw has also been an impressive find for Delhi. He has got Delhi off to pretty good starts.

The bowling department has leaked runs on several occasions which hasn’t allowed them to defend substantial totals. They have batted pretty well but their bowlers haven’t quite performed according to their plans which have affected them in the long run.

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Squads –

Teams:

Delhi Daredevils (From): Prithvi Shaw, Jason Roy, Shreyas Iyer(c), Rishabh Pant(w), Vijay Shankar, Abhishek Sharma, Harshal Patel, Amit Mishra, Sandeep Lamichhane, Junior Dala, Trent Boult, Glenn Maxwell, Colin Munro, Gautam Gambhir, Mohammed Shami, Rahul Tewatia, Avesh Khan, Shahbaz Nadeem, Liam Plunkett, Daniel Christian, Jayant Yadav, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Manjot Kalra, Naman Ojha, Sayan Ghosh

Chennai Super Kings (From): Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Sam Billings, MS Dhoni(w/c), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, David Willey, Harbhajan Singh, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Faf du Plessis, KM Asif, Kanishk Seth, Lungi Ngidi, Dhruv Shorey, Murali Vijay, Kshitiz Sharma, Monu Kumar, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma, N Jagadeesan

Both the teams might employ a wholesome of changes as it will be an inconsequential match.

However, Chennai still will look to confirm their place in the top two hence they are unlikely to tinker with their winning combination.

Match Prediction:

Chennai will start as outright favourites and I will also back them to win the match and confirm their place in the top two.

Delhi, on the other hand, will look to win a match or two. However, their playoffs dream is over.

As per head-to-head record, Chennai Super Kings have defeated Delhi 12 times in 17 matches.

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