The thirty-fourth match of the tournament is going to be played in Sharjah. DC like MI is the team which has performed extremely well in this tournament. CSK on the other end has had a disastrous campaign.
Head to Head
Chennai Super Kings have dominated this rivalry winning 15 matches out of the 22 matches played so far.
Overall, CSK has won 68% of matches against DC, if we look at their last five meetings they have won four and lost one.
This is the battle between the three-time champions (CSK) versus a team which has never reached IPL final although this season CSK is struggling at number 6th position whereas DC is at the second position.
In the first leg match, DC defeated CSK comfortably by 44 runs.
Squads
Top Players in CSK & Delhi
CSK:
MS Dhoni: Dhoni like his team hasn't had a great IPL season this year. He has not played any innings of significance this year. Against, DC he has scored 587 runs at a strike rate of 137.79 and an average of 34.52. He has changed his batting position several times in this tournament but he has to play at round 5th position more often for CSK to be more effective as a batsman.
A Rayudu: He is doing a decent job for CSK in the middle order, in the previous match against SRH he played a crucial innings of 41. He is amongst the runs although if he can improve his batting strike rate than it can be extremely beneficial for CSK. Against, DC he has a scored at a strike rate of 136.28 which is better than his overall strike rate of 125.50.
S Watson: He has been a very effective player for CSK, whenever he scores runs it more often than not helps his team win the match. He started slow this year but has looked in good touch ever since he scored 83* against KXIP. Watson like Rayudu has enjoyed playing against Delhi, he has a strike rate of 140.62 against them.
Faf du Plessis: He is the top scorer for CSK in this year, he had a splendid start of this season but hasn't been amongst the runs in the last 3 innings. Fortunately, Rayudu is back and S Watson has returned to form to give the CSK batting a good balance. One can expect Faf to perform well in today's match.
DC:
S Iyer: He is doing a decent job for CSK in the middle order, in the previous match against SRH he played a crucial inning of 41. He is amongst the runs although if he can improve his batting strike rate than it can be extremely beneficial for CSK. Against, DC he has a scored at a strike rate of 136.28 which is better than his overall strike rate of 125.50.
S Dhawan: Like mentioned in the past the Indian opening batsman if fit and healthy can be very dangerous. He has now scored 2 back to back fifties for his team and should play an important role against CSK. He has a fantastic record against CSK, he is the 3rd in the list of run-scorers against CSK.
R Pant: If he can play in today's match he surely could be an X factor for DC. He hasn't played as well as expected from him this year but he has played some decent knocks for DC.
K Rabada: Without a doubt, he is the best bowler this year. He is the highest wicket-taker this year, he has picked up 18 wickets. The second best bowler has picked up 12 wickets. He has picked up a wicket in every match he has played this year. He has picked up a wicket every 13th ball he has bowled. It would be exciting to watch him bowl to Faf.
Likely Playing 11
CSK:
Sam Curran, Faf du Plessis, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (C/WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Piyush Chawla, S Thakur, K Sharma.
DC:
Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane/S Hetmyer, Shreyas Iyer (C), Marcus Stoinis, Alex Carey (WK)/Rishabh Pant, A Patel, Ravi Ashwin, Tushar Deshpande, Kagiso Rabada, A Nortje.
Other players who can make an impact
P Shaw: He is an attacking opening batsman who can score at a brisk pace and plays fearless cricket, he was the man of the match in their first leg dual.
M Stoinis: He can score at a very good strike rate if he gets his eye in, this year he has scored runs at a strike rate of 168.
S Curran: He has played a few attractive cameos for CSK in the tournament and now that he has been promoted as an opener he can spring a surprise for DC. He has had a decent outing as a bowler as well. In the previous match, he scored 31 runs and picked up a wicket against SRH.
R Jadeja: He has looked solid with the bat whenever he has got a brief start if his bowling form returns he can be a very useful asset for the team.
CSK seems to have come up with a new strategy in the second leg and it worked like charm for them in the previous match. If we go by records CSK is favourite but if we pick a side based on the current form then DC is the favourite. I feel CSK is capable enough to create an upset this year.