Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Average score at venue: 169
Win percentage while batting first: 43.48%
Pitch Conditions:
- With small ground dimensions at Sharjah, both Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings will want to make the most of the opportunity of playing on a small field and put up big scores in case they get to bat first.
- Fast bowlers have a greater success rate at Sharjah at 66.67% of the wickets coming their way while spin bowlers getting 33.33%.
Weather prediction:
Once again it will be a bright and sunny day on Thursday at Sharjah with temperature not crossing 35°C during the daytime, and dropping down to a static 34°C after the sunset. The players will have to deal with humidity levels ranging between 60 to 65%.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD:
Matches played: 15
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) won: 4
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) won: 11
No result: –
Last 5 matches:
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) won: 2
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) won: 3
No result: –
Top 3 players from Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH): Jason Roy, Kane Williamson, Rashid Khan
Top 3 players from Chennai Super Kings (CSK): Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja
Top picks for H2H/WTA contest (top 5 players each):
Top 5 players from Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH): Jason Roy, Kane Williamson, Rashid Khan, Jason Holder, Wriddhiman Saha
Top 5 players from Chennai Super Kings (CSK): Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni
Q&A:
Should I pick more bowlers, batsmen or all-rounders?
The contest between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings will be played at one of the smallest cricket grounds in the world in Sharjah. In Indian T20 2020, a lot of teams were looking forward to the prospect of playing at this venue in particular because it allowed them to bat aggressively and freely without exercising much caution, putting up big scores on the board as well as making the most of the opportunity of getting as many points in their Net Run Rate. While such scenes are yet to be witnessed in Indian T20 2021, adding more to the batting strength will make a fantasy cricket XI look stronger for this clash.
From which team should I pick more players in my XI? Which team is stronger?
Sunrisers Hyderabad produced a clinical performance particularly with the bat in the last match against Rajasthan Royals to record only their second win so far in the tournament from 10 matches. For them, the road to the Indian T20 2021 play-offs might be blocked but they still have a lot of cricket left and some statements to make after a wretched season so far. The decision to drop out-of-form David Warner and bring in England opening batsman Jason Roy worked extremely well, since the right-hander began his Indian T20 stint with SRH with a splendid knock of 60, which was well supported by captain Williamson’s 51 not out. But irrespective of the fact that SRH did well in the last game, there is no denying that Chennai Super Kings are the superior side across all departments and should have more players featuring in the fantasy XI.
MORE INFORMATION:
Players’ form: Sunrisers Hyderabad will hope to make the most of the form that some of their key players such Roy, Williamson, Jason Holder and Wriddhiman Saha have shown in the last two matches. Rashid Khan remains a vital cog in the Sunrisers Hyderabad bowling line-up and so does Bhuvneshwar Kumar. On the other hand, Chennai Super Kings will be brimming with confidence after their narrow last-ball victory against Kolkata Knight Riders. For Chennai Super Kings, it will be imperative for the likes of Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni and even Ambati Rayudu to get some runs which are vital for the lower middle order batsmen.
Changes in squad (if any): NO
LIKELY XIs:
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH): Jason Roy, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Priyam Garg, Abhishek Sharma, Abdul Samad, Jason Holder, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaekwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (c&wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood.
FANTASY XI: Jason Roy (c), Faf du Plessis (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Abhishek Sharma, Jason Holder, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), Shardul Thakur, Rashid Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar.
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Chennai Super Kings red-hot favourites against Sunrisers Hyderabad
Chennai Super Kings will once again walk into the contest against Sunrisers Hyderabad to be played at the Sharjah Cricket Ground on Thursday night as the red-hot favourites, since they have dominated the bilateral action between the two teams in Indian T20 history and are also on the rampage in this year’s edition.
With 8 victories and 2 defeats in 10 matches, Chennai Super Kings have 16 points and the best Net Run Rate of 1.069 among all teams in the competition, giving them the top spot in Indian T20 2021 points table. Chennai Super Kings have not only won matches comprehensively this year, but they have shown that the trait of winning games from worst possible scenarios is not lost on them, and they still have the ability to turn the table around in a matter of a few overs.
Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad have formed a crucial opening partnership for CSK which has laid the foundation for many big totals batting first, while providing solidity at the top in tricky chases, like the one against KKR in their previous match. However, had it not been a flop show from their middle order, CSK would have not won on the final ball with the winning run coming off the bat of Deepak Chahar.
For CSK, it is imperative that the likes of Rayudu, Raina and Dhoni — their most experienced batsmen after Du Plessis at the top — must get runs and be ready for adverse situations going further into the tournament. As things stand, it looks like CSK are going to find some incredible competition coming from teams such as Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders to name a few. All these teams not only have long batting lineups but have most of their batsmen carrying out their responsibilities to the T.
CSK’s arch rival Mumbai Indians are currently struggling to make their way back into the top four, as they are currently standing at the 5th position with 5 victories in 11 matches.
Sunrisers Hyderabad will know that they are facing an uphill task against Chennai Super Kings given that they have been on the losing end more often than not. In 15 matches played so far, Sunrisers Hyderabad have been able to win only 4 while Chennai super Kings have recorded victories in 11, which tells about the dominant run the team led by Dhoni has had against the Indian T20 2016 winners.
Sunrisers Hyderabad may not only have done away with the services of Warner for the remainder of the season and beyond, Kedar Jadhav and Shahbaz Nadeem also the other two players who will perhaps not be seen back in the Orange colours anytime soon. The inclusion of = Roy certainly worked well for Indian T20 2016 winners, who were served well by all-rounder Abhishek Sharma, someone who has been rated highly by India’s champion all-rounder in Yuvraj Singh.
