Not in a mood to leave anything to chance, table toppers Chennai Super Kings would be gunning for a win against bottom-placed Kings XI Punjab in their last league match to seal their place in the play-offs of the IPl on Saturday.
CSK are presently leading the table with 16 points, and a victory on Saturday would guarantee their place in the top two.
But a loss against Kings XI can jeopardise CSK’s play-off hopes because as many as five teams are breathing down their neck and in that scenario the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side’s fate will depend on the outcome of the remaining league matches. Kolkata Knight Riders are placed second in the standings on 15 points from 13 games, followed by Sunrisers Hyderabad (14 points which from 12 games), Mumbai Indians (14 points from 13 games), Rajasthan Royals (14 points from 13 games) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (13 points, 12 games), and all these teams are in with a chance to make it to the play-offs.
The CSK think tank would be a worried lot coming into the match as they suffered a six-wicket defeat against Delhi Daredevils in their previous match.
In that match, despite having big names like Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, Dhoni and Dwayne Bravo, CSK’s batting fell by the wayside and could only manage 119.
And Dhoni would be hoping for a much-improved show from his batting department on Saturday. Overdependence on McCullum to provide a breezy start is seen as a major weakness for CSK in this edition as whenever the Kiwi got out early, Chennai outfit’s middle-order struggled to keep up the pace of the innings.
On the bowling front, Ashish Nehra has been leading the CSK’s bowling attack with remarkable consistency.