IPL 2018: Match 30, Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Daredevils - Match Prediction

When the 11^th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) started three weeks ago both Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Delhi Daredevils (DD) would have wanted to find themselves in the first-half of the points table at the halfway stage of the tournament.

Chennai as a unit has performed quite well so far. However, Delhi’s performance has been exactly the opposite.

While Chennai clinched five out of seven encounters, Delhi’s record is exactly the opposite with two victories from seven matches.

Gautam Gambhir stepped down from the post of captaincy following his lean patch and simultaneously dropped himself from the playing XI in the previous encounter against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).

Under a new skipper, Shreyas Iyer Delhi did exceedingly well and defeated KKR by 55 runs to return to winning ways. They needed the win badly. Now, they will look to believe that this is the start of a turnaround.

Eventually, the Delhi-based franchise still has chances of qualifying for the playoffs stage. However, they must keep the winning momentum intact against a much fancier Chennai Super Kings.

Iyer smashed a sensational 93 of just 40 deliveries which propelled Delhi to a score of 219 for five, the highest in this edition so far.

Kolkata couldn’t quite force their way back into the match. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals and eventually lost the game.

The bowlers were also on the mark. Despite an Andre Russell blitz, DD managed to hold on to their nerves and seal the deal for their franchise.

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Chennai, on the other hand, had a relatively off day against the Mumbai Indians. It was the latter who won quite convincingly, in the end, beating Chennai by eight wickets and with a couple of deliveries to spare.

They scored a below par 169 despite looking well set for a score beyond 190. Suresh Raina played a brilliant knock of 75. Rayudu also continued his rich vein of form and smashed a 46 before departing of the bowling off Krunal Pandya.

The form of Rayudu has been the biggest positive for Chennai at the moment.

Meanwhile, skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has also looked a class apart. Against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), it was a brilliant match-winning knock of 70 of just 34 deliveries which propelled Chennai to a thrilling win by five wickets with a couple of deliveries to spare. His innings was studded with a four and as many as seven sixes.

Dwayne Bravo has again been the reliable man for Dhoni when it comes to death bowling. More often than not Bravo bowls his first over after the 10^th over and goes on to complete his quota on most occasions.

CSK’s middle-order line-up has looked quite solid. However, the bowling of Shardul Thakur has been wayward at times which hasn’t helped them.

The absence of Deepak Chahar for at least a couple of weeks has also put them on the backfoot given the fact that the pacer has performed brilliantly for Chennai Super Kings in the tournament so far.

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Team Combinations –

Chennai Super Kings”

David Willey might make his debut for the  Super Kings. The left-arm fast bowler is also a powerful striker of the ball. With Chennai playing their second game in less than 48 hours they might also employ a couple more changes in the form of Karn Sharma and Mark Wood.

The latter will replace Imran Tahir. In that case Karn Sharma will be the lone leg-spinner in the Playing XI.

Predicted XI: Shane Watson/David Willey, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Sam Billings, MS Dhoni (C & WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Karn Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Mark Wood, Shardul Thakur

Delhi Daredevils:

Rahul Tewati hasn’t done enough to justify his place in the XI.

In his place, Mohammed Shami might make a return. Captain Shreyas Iyer though won’t be interested in tinkering with the winning combination.

Predicted XI:  Prithvi Shaw, Colin Munro, Shreyas Iyer (C), Rishabh Pant (WK), Glenn Maxwell, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Liam Plunkett, Amit Mishra, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan

Match Predictions

Chennai has an 11-5 head-to-head record against the Daredevils. Delhi needs a win badly. However, Chennai looks by far the firm favourites.

Even my gut feeling is with Chennai Super Kings. Let’s see how it pans out.

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