Chennai Super Kings v Pune Warriors (Match preview)
The Chennai Super Kings, led by the Indian skipper M.S Dhoni will be battling against the Pune Warriors, led by his compatriot Yuvraj Singh, the match is scheduled for 25 April, 2011 at Chennai.
The match will see two best friends battling it out, M.S Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh.
M.S Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh are considered to be each other’s “Best Friends” but friendships don’t count in the Indian Premier League, the tournament pitches friends and fellow teammates against each other.
Both the teams will be entering the competition with a defeat behind them, looking to come back strong with a win.
The Chennai side is strong and will be having the advantage of playing at their home ground. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028, their skipper has proven himself as one of the best contemporary captains, he led the Indian side to World Cup glory and is now leading the CSK side.
On the other hand Yuvraj is currently rendering his services as the captain of the Pune Ship, Pune enjoyed the initial victories but the recent defeats have put them down.
Yuvraj known for his ability to soak pressure and accumulate runs quickly, has not been performing up to his own bench marks.
Yuvraj’s best knock so far was 66 not out and he managed to score just 95 runs in four matches.
This will be a crucial clash, both the teams will be vying for victory since the winner of this match will secure a position in the final teams of the tournament.
Fortunately for Pune, Karnatka Batsman Manish Pandey is available after serving a four-match ban.
Chennai has fitness worries to look after since skipper M.S Dhoni was found limping during the encounter against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 Indians.
CSK is blessed with hard hitting batsmen perfectly suitable for T20 conditions such as Dhoni, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/M-Vijay-c1867, Suresh Raina and Mike Hussey.
The Pune warriors will be looking to make no mistakes in their bowling, aiming to restrict the strong batting line-up to a chase able total.
Pune engineered a huge total of 187 runs in their previous game against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Delhi-c780 Daredevils but still due to their inconsistent pace attack they suffered an unexpected defeat.
To avoid such a debacle again, Parnell, Wagh and Murali Kartik will have to pull up their socks to restrict the batting might of the CSK, their skipper, Yuvraj Singh is the highest wicket taker in their side, something they should not be proud of.
Some important changes maybe in order, Chennai will have to decide on a bowler to pair with Tim Southee and Suraj Randiv.
Similarly Pune is not sure about Graeme Smith’s fitness, Tim Paine is the expected replacement for Smith.
The Chennai Super Kings and the Pune Warriors rank 8th and 7th respectively on the points table, it remains to be seen which team will be able to improve its rank.
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