Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings may have got a much-needed win in their last game but a stern test awaits as they face a dominant Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League on Thursday.

Dhoni’s men put in a solid all-round performance against Sunrisers Hyderabad and they would aim to continue in the same vein as they battle to salvage the season.

Conditions to suit CSK?

Whether it was promoting Sam Curran to the opener’s slot or finishing pacer Deepak Chahar’s quota upfront while using seven bowlers, every move seemed to work against SRH.

Dhoni used leg spinner Piyush Chawla for only one over and that too as late as the 16th over, leaving it largely on Ravindra Jadeja and Karn Sharma, but CSK are likely to continue with three spinners considering that the Sharjah wickets are now getting slower.

That spinners hold the key in Sharjah was evident in the last two games where RCB and Kings XI Punjab’s slow bowlers were instrumental in their respective team’s wins.

DC results in IPL 2020

Match Day/Date/Time Venue Result Total points
DC vs KXIP 20 Sep, Sun (1930) Dubai DC won Super Over after match was tied 2
CSK vs DC 25 Sep, Fri (1930) Dubai DC won by 44 runs 4
DC vs SRH 29 Sep, Tue (1930) Abu Dhabi DC lost by 15 runs 4
DC vs KKR 3 Oct, Sat (1930) Sharjah DC won by 18 runs 6
RCB vs DC 5 Oct, Mon (1930) Dubai DC won by 59 runs 8
RR vs DC 9 Oct, Fri (1930) Sharjah DC won by 46 runs 10
MI vs DC 11 Oct, Sun (1930) Abu Dhabi DC lost by 5 wickets 10
DC vs RR 14 Oct, Wed (1930) Dubai DC won by 13 runs 12

CSK results in IPL 2020

Match Day/Date/Time Venue Result Total points 
MI vs CSK 19 Sep, Sat (1930) Abu Dhabi CSK won by 5 wickets 2
RR vs CSK 22 Sep, Tue (1930) Sharjah CSK lost by 16 runs 2
CSK vs DC 25 Sep, Fri (1930) Dubai CSK lost by 44 runs 2
CSK vs SRH 2 Oct, Fri (1930) Dubai CSK lost by 7 runs 2
KXIP vs CSK 4 Oct, Sun (1930) Dubai CSK won by 10 wickets 4
KKR vs CSK 7 Oct, Wed (1930) Abu Dhabi CSK lost by 10 runs 4
CSK vs RCB 10 Oct, Sat (1930) Dubai CSK lost by 37 runs 4
SRH vs CSK 13 Oct, Tue (1930) Dubai CSK won by 20 runs 6

The three-time champions will look to build on the win over SRH as the league phase moves towards the business end.

Capitals’ bowling strength

However, they are up against a team that is high on confidence and well-served by the South African pace duo of Kagiso Rabada and Anrich Nortje, who bowled a 156.2 kmph delivery during his spell against Rajasthan Royals.

Add Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel to the mix and DC have a rather impressive bowling unit. Pacer Tushar Deshpande, who made a memorable debut in the win over the Royals on Wednesday, adds teeth to the attack and it will be interesting to see how he follows up that performance.

The Capitals would be a tad worried about the fitness of skipper Shreyas Iyer, who hurt his left shoulder in the previous game. The 25-year-old has been in good form with the bat and has led well too.

If Iyer is ruled out of Saturday’s match, DC will be deprived of a solid middle-order batsman which would be a blow for a side already missing the services of Rishabh Pant, who has been sidelined by a hamstring injury.

Delhi will rely on Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan and Marcus Stoinis, who all have runs under their belt, to take responsibility against the Super Kings.

Head-to-head

Mat DC wins CSK wins DC win% CSK win%
DC vs CSK 22 7 15 31.81 68.19

DC squad

Batsmen Bowlers All-rounders Wicketkeepers
Shreyas Iyer Ishant Sharma Axar Patel Rishabh Pant
Prithvi Shaw Amit Mishra Harshal Patel Alex Carey
Shikhar Dhawan Avesh Khan R Ashwin
Ajinkya Rahane Sandeep Lamichhane Lalit Yadav
Shimron Hetmyer Kagiso Rabada Marcus Stoinis
Keemo Paul Daniel Sams
Mohit Sharma
Tushar Deshpande
Anrich Nortje

CSK squad

Batsmen Bowlers All-rounders Wicketkeepers
Ruturaj Gaikwad Lungi Ngidi Dwayne Bravo MS Dhoni
Faf du Plessis Deepak Chahar Ravindra Jadeja N Jagadeesan
Shane Watson Karn Sharma Mitchell Santner
Ambati Rayudu Imran Tahir Sam Curran
M Vijay Shardul Thakur
Kedar Jadhav Monu Kumar
KM Asif
R. Sai Kishore
Piyush Chawla
Josh Hazlewood

Match starts at 1930 IST and will be broadcast on the Star Sports network and Disney+Hotstar

(With PTI inputs)