Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
Time: 3:30 PM IST
Average score at venue: 160
Win percentage while batting first: 38.78%
Pitch conditions:
- With Team Punjab effectively out of the race for a spot in the Indian T20 League 2021 playoffs, they still will want to make most of the conditions that will suit some of their batsmen and produce a strong challenge against an imperious side in Team Chennai.
- With a wicket-share percentage of 66.85%, pace bowlers have had a better time on the field compared to the spin bowlers, who have claimed only 33.15% of the dismissals at this venue.
Weather prediction:
It will be a bright and clear day in Dubai on Thursday with the temperature hitting a high of 36°C during the afternoon time, when players from the teams Team Chennai and Team Punjab will be battling out for a positive result. The humidity levels will keep on rising steadily through the day on Thursday, starting with 33% around the time of the start of the match to around 55% by the end of it.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD:
Matches played: 24
Team Chennai won: 15
Team Punjab won: 9
No result: –
Last 5 matches:
Team Chennai won: 4
Team Punjab won: 1
No result: –
Top 3 players from Team Chennai: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo
Top 3 players from Team Punjab: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammad Shami
Top picks for H2H/WTA contest (top 5 players each):
Top 5 players from Team Chennai: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Josh Hazlewood
Top 5 players Team Punjab: KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammad Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Moises Henriques
Q&A:
Should I pick more bowlers, batsmen or all-rounders?
The contest between Team Chennai and Team Punjab can be a high-scoring one given that both the teams are carrying batsmen who are in form and have the ability to notch up big team totals on any given day. In the Team Chennai camp, the presence of Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali and even M Dhonii makes them look extremely dangerous even though Suresh Raina in the middle-order has not been able to get big runs. On the other hand, Team Punjab will once again depend on the likes of KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal to get their runs. It will be wise to have a long batting line-up in the fantasy playing cricket XI for this contest.
From which team should I pick more players in my XI? Which team is stronger?
Team Chennai have already qualified for the Indian T20 League 2021 playoffs and they are currently standing at the second position in the points table behind Team Delhi. On the other hand, Team Punjab may just be out of the race for the play-off given that they have only one match left and so far they have garnered only 10 points from 13 matches with 5 victories and 8 defeats. Team Chennai easily have more batsmen as well as bowlers who are in form and have contributed in their dominating campaign at different stages, to take the team on the top of the pile of Indian T20 League 2021. Certainly, Team Chennai are the stronger side and should have more players featuring in the playing XI.
MORE INFORMATION: Even though they have qualified for Indian T20 League 2021 playoffs, Team Chennai will want to get back to the winning ways having suffered two consecutive defeats after a string of dominating performances in the second leg of Indian T20 League 2021 in the UAE. After losing their contest against Rajasthan Royals by 7 wickets, it was the Delhi side who handed Team Chennai a 3-wicket defeat, which would certainly force the M Dhonii-led side to have a relook at their bowling plans given that there are greater challenges ahead. On the other hand, Team Punjab will certainly want to sign off on a high of a win against a team as formidable as Team Chennai.
Players’ form: Team Chennai know that they will have to maintain the performances as well as standards going into the Indian T20 League 2021 knockouts with the positions of the teams yet to be decided. Delhi Capitals have already garnered 20 points from 13 matches and they are sitting at the top of the pile which means that there could be a direct shoot-out between Team Chennai and Royal Challengers Bangalore for the second spot in the Indian T20 League2021 points table. This is where teams would want their in-form players to chip in and do the job. In the case of Team Chennai, the likes of Gaikwad, Du Plessis, Jadeja, Moeen, Josh Hazlewood and a few others will be expected to carry on with a good show. On their part, Team Punjab, despite there being an outside chance of them making it to the final four, will want a unified team performance one last time before teams get disbanded ahead of the Indian T20 League 2022 mega auction.
Changes in squad (if any): NO
LIKELY XIs:
Team Chennai: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Robin Uthappa, M Dhonii (c&wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood.
Team Punjab: KL Rahul (c&wk), Mayank Agarwal, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Moises Henriques, Harpreet Brar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
FANTASY XI: Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), KL Rahul (vc&wk), Mayank Agarwal, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, M Dhonii, Dwayne Bravo, Ravi Bishnoi, Josh Hazlewood, Deepak Chahar.
—
Team Chennai look to bounce back against struggling Team Punjab
Having suffered two consecutive defeats, Team Chennai will look to bounce back to winning ways against a struggling Team Punjab, who might be all but out of the race for the Indian T20 League2021 playoffs. The two teams will clash in the Match No 53 to be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Thursday afternoon.
Team Chennai have qualified for the Indian T20 League2021 playoffs and they are currently placed at the 2nd spot in the points table with 18 points in 13 matches, which includes 9 victories and 4 defeats and a Net Run rate. (NRR) of 0.739. On the other hand, their opponent on Thursday afternoon, Team Punjab, are currently placed at the 6th position in the points table but they are certain to have missed the bus to the Indian T20 League2021 knockouts.
Team Punjab, who have lost 3 out of the last 5 matches that they have played in Indian T20 League 2021, have overall 5 victories and 8 defeats from 13 matches giving them 10 points and a NRR of -0.241. Even if Team Punjab manage to beat Team Chennai on Thursday afternoon, they will certainly require a huge victory since they can only get to 12 points overall from 14 matches, and then the competition will be between three teams who will be judged as per their NRRs.
The actual competition for a place, which is for the fourth and final spot, is between Mumbai and Kolkata, who both have 12 points each already and a better NRR compared to Team Punjab, which is why the KL Rahul-led side will need a big victory over Team Chennai.
It will not be an easy task for Team Punjab to get the better of Team Chennai who will be determined to end their losing run. In the last 5 matches that these two teams have played, Team Chennai have emerged victorious in 4 while losing only 1. Even when the overall record between these two teams is looked upon, Team Chennai have 15 victories from 24 matches while Team Punjab have only 9 to show.
For Team Punjab, it will be important to sign off on a high which will require them to produce a unified performance especially with the bat, something that they have not been able to do so far on a consistent basis.
