What absolute domination from Gujarat Titans against Rajasthan Royals yesterday. GT are peaking at exactly the right time in this tournament, while RR need to significantly improve their level of cricket if they want to secure a Top 2—or even a Top 4—finish.
GT outplayed RR in every department, whether it was batting or bowling. Their captain led from the front with a brilliant 84, while the experienced Rashid Khan reminded everyone why he’s one of the most dangerous T20 bowlers in the world, leading the defence with figures of 4/33 in his four overs. More importantly, every wicket he took felt game-changing.
This level of dominance is fantastic news for GT and their fans—but for the rest of the league, it’s becoming a worrying sign. If GT continue playing like this heading into the business end of the tournament, stopping them is going to be incredibly difficult.
As we move on to another Super Sunday in the Tata IPL, today promises to be an absolute blockbuster. Three of the league’s biggest and most followed teams are all in action, as Chennai Super Kings take on Lucknow Super Giants, while Royal Challengers Bengaluru host Mumbai Indians in Raipur.
That also means we were supposed to witness Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and MS Dhoni all playing on the same day. But unfortunately for CSK fans, Dhoni remains sidelined with injury, and it still doesn’t look likely that he’ll return today either.
Even without him, though, this remains a blockbuster Sunday for IPL fans, with the two most successful franchises in league history and the defending champions all playing on the same day.
Expected Playing 11:
CSK:
- Sanju Samson (WK)
- Ruturaj Gaikwad (C)
- Urvil Patel
- Dewald Brevis
- Shivam Dube
- Kartik Sharma
- Jamie Overton
- Akeal Hosain
- Noor Ahmed
- Anshul Khamboj
- Mukesh Choudhary
Impact Player- Gurjapneet Singh
LSG
- Mitchell Marsh
- Josh Inglis
- Nicholas Pooran
- Rishabh Pant (C & WK)
- Aiden Markam
- Akshat Raghuvanshi
- Himmat Singh
- Shahbaz Ahmed
- Mohammed Shami
- Mohsin Khan
- Prince Yadav
Impact Player- M Siddharth
Head to Head:
| Matches- | 6 |
| CSK Won- | 2 |
| LSG Won- | 3 |
| No Result- | 1 |
Pitch and Weather Conditions:
Both teams cancelled their practice sessions due to rain and the forecast is for scattered showers on match day as well. A red-soil based pitch, which brought CSK’s first victory of the season, against Delhi Capitals, will be used on Sunday. It spent a very long time under the covers and is likely to help for the fast bowlers.
-ESPN CricInfo
Prediction:
We’re backing Chennai Super Kings to take the win on their home turf. This may not be the vintage CSK side that once dominated the league year after year, but they are still a dangerous team—especially at Chepauk, where they almost always start as favourites. And coming into this clash on the back of two dominant wins, CSK will be carrying plenty of confidence.
Lucknow Super Giants, too, have shown signs of improvement in their last couple of games. Yes, they lost to MI, but that was also the game where their batting finally showed some responsibility, pushing close to 230. That momentum carried into their next match against RCB, where they secured a massive win and finally ended their six-match losing streak.
But does one victory suddenly make them favourites against a side sitting above them on the points table? Probably not. It’s more of a beginning than a complete turnaround. That said, LSG absolutely have the talent to trouble CSK, and they’ll be desperate to build on the momentum they’ve finally found. This might end up being a much closer contest than many expect. With both teams needing the win badly, it’ll be interesting to see who comes out on top at Chepauk.
It’s an exciting double header Sunday and to start it off, we have CSK and LSG taking on each other, catch the action on JioHotstar at 3:30 PM IST.
Until next time!
Thank you.
SlogVlog 