Big picture
Chennai Super Kings started a run of three home games on the trot with a defeat against Lucknow Super Giants, and having lost the reverse fixture in Lucknow just prior to that, they are suddenly looking at the prospect of slipping down the table. Next up for them: Sunrisers Hyderabad, who were flying high till faltering in a 207-run chase against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their previous game.
If CSK want to regain their form at home, historically there is no team better than SRH for them to come up against. They have beaten SRH 14 times in 20 encounters, and have a 100% win record against them at Chepauk.
But history books have been thrown in the bin this season, especially as far as SRH are concerned. Batting records have tumbled this season, and SRH have been at the forefront of it. So facing them after seeing their total of 210 being chased down in the last game could be a daunting proposition for CSK.
RCB showed one way to counter SRH's deadly opening duo. They bowled spin first up and managed to stifle Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, getting them both out in the powerplay. So will CSK look at introducing Moeen Ali into the attack early? Or will they hope that Deepak Chahar can dismiss Abhishek for the third time in as many innings?
However they plan it, CSK will know that they need to come out on top in the powerplay with the ball.
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