An intriguing battle is on the cards when table toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad clash with the second-placed Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League Qualifier 1.

A slight difference in the net run-rate difference separated the two teams that finished the league stage on 18 points.

The riveting contest at the Wankhede Stadium will spell out who goes straight to the May 27 final, also scheduled at this venue. The winner will be guaranteed a spot in the summit clash and the loser will have to play Qualifier 2 in Kolkata on May 25.

While Super Kings snuffed Kings XI Punjab’s hopes in their last game with a five-wicket win, Sunrisers have been on a three-game losing streak as well. In fact, it was the MS Dhoni-led unit that halted Sunrisers’ six-game winning streak with a comprehensive eight-wicket drubbing on May 13 in Pune.

Thus, Super Kings seem to hold a slight edge over their southern rivals, having beaten them twice in the league stage.

Dependency on Williamson

Sunrisers have depended much on their captain Kane Williamson, who has been in terrific form and id placed second in the leading run-getters list with 661 runs.

Only he and Shikhar Dhawan (437 runs), who took some time to get going, have shown consistency with the bat. But their bowling attack, barring the last few games, has been the talking point of the season.

Sunrisers will need their middle order, especially Manish Pandey, to take up more responsibility to counter the Super Kings’ thrust.

The bowling attack needs to come up with an effective plan to stifle Ambati Rayudu at the top of the order who took the game away with a scintillating hundred when the two teams last met. He made 79 not out in their first leg contest.

Shane Watson (438 runs from 13 matches), too, has been in top form along with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The form of key batsman Suresh Raina, who anchored the innings splendidly against Kings XI with an unbeaten 61, is another encouraging sign.

The outstanding spell of fast bowling by young South African Lungi Ngidi, who grabbed 4 for 10 to take the man of the match award last night, could not have come at a better time for the Super Kings.

Head to head

Overall: Matches – 8, Sunrisers Hyderabad won –2, Chennai Super Kings won – 6

This season: CSK beat SRH by 4 runs in Hyderabad and by 8 wickets in Pune.

Key stats

  • The Chennai Super Kings have made the last-four stage in each of the 9 seasons they’ve competed in. Sunrisers Hyderabad have made the Playoffs in 4 of the 6 seasons they’ve competed in.  
  • The Sunrisers have a 1-4 win-loss record in IPL matches at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai; the corresponding number for CSK is 5-6. Both teams were victorious when they visited the Wankhede Stadium earlier this season; CSK clinched the season opener by 1 wicket, while SRH defended 118 by dismissing the Mumbai Indians for 87.
  • Harbhajan Singh has taken 49 wickets in IPL matches at the Wankhede Stadium. Only one bowler has taken 50 or more IPL wickets at a venue – Lasith Malinga, 58 at the Wankhede Stadium.  

Squads

Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Faf Du Plessis, Harbhajan Singh, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayadu, Deepak Chahar, K M Asif, Kanish Seth, Lungi Ngidi, Dhruv Shorey, Murali Vijay, Sam Billings, Mark Wood, Kshtiz Sharma, Monu Kumar, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur, N Jagadeesan, David Willy.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Kane Williamson (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Wriddhiman Saha, Siddharth Kaul, Deepak Hooda, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Shreevats Goswami, Ricky Bhui, Basil Thampi, T Natarajan, Sachin Baby, Bipul Sharma, Mehdi Hasan, Tanmay Agarwal, Alex Hales, Carlos Brathwaite, Rashid Khan, Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Nabi and Chris Jordan.