Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals lock horns in the Indian Premier League in Abu Dhabi on Monday with the knowledge that any more slip-up could dash their slim playoff hopes.
Both CSK and RR have struggled to gain momentum so far and are placed seventh and eighth on the points table in the eight-team competition.
The two struggling teams have six points from nine games, but the defending champions are placed above based on net run-rate.
With just five matches each remaining for both the teams, the road ahead is definitely going to be a tough and tricky one, and they know they cannot afford any more lapses from hereon.
Both teams lost their respective last matches on Saturday. While the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side lost to table toppers Delhi Capitals by five wickets, Rajasthan Royals were defeated by seven wickets by Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The blow for CSK is bigger as their influential all-rounder, Dwayne Bravo, has been ruled out for at least a few days due to a groin injury.
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 |
| DC vs CSK | 17 Oct, Sat (1930) | Sharjah | CSK lost by 5 wickets | 6 |
RR results in IPL 2020
| Match | Day/Date/Time | Venue | Result | Total points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RR vs CSK | 22 Sep, Tue (1930) | Sharjah | RR won by 16 runs | 2 |
| RR vs KXIP | 27 Sep, Sun (1930) | Sharjah | RR won by 4 wickets | 4 |
| RR vs KKR | 30 Sep, Wed (1930) | Dubai | RR lost by 37 runs | 4 |
| RCB vs RR | 3 Oct, Sat (1530) | Abu Dhabi | RR lost by 8 wickets | 4 |
| MI vs RR | 6 Oct, Tue (1930) | Abu Dhabi | RR lost by 57 runs | 4 |
| RR vs DC | 9 Oct, Fri (1930) | Sharjah | RR lost by 46 runs | 4 |
| SRH vs RR | 11 Oct, Sun (1530) | Dubai | RR won by 5 wickets | 6 |
| DC vs RR | 14 Oct, Wed (1930) | Dubai | RR lost by 13 runs | 6 |
| RR vs RCB | 17 Oct, Sat (1530) | Dubai | RR lost by 7 wickets | 6 |
After bringing their campaign to life with a win over Sunrisers Hyderabad, CSK were done in by sloppy fielding and Shikhar Dhawan’s scintillating 101-run knock while chasing a competitive 180-run target.
Dropped a number of times, Dhawan hit his first IPL hundred while Axar Patel smashed three sixes in the final over bowled by Ravindra Jadeja, to hand CSK their sixth loss.
It was a nightmarish outing for CSK fielders as they dropped Dhawan on 25 and 79, apart from failing to latch on to a half chance and a run-out opportunity, and Dhoni would certainly seek improvement in that department.
“Shikhar’s wicket was important but we dropped him quite a number of times. If he keeps batting, he will keep the strike rate high. Also the wicket played better in the second half, but we can’t take the credit away from Shikhar,” Dhoni had said after the last game.
RR also find themselves in a very difficult situation and desperately need to explore ways to close down games.
One good thing for RR is the return to form of their skipper Steve Smith, who made 57 on Saturday, but star all-rounder Ben Stokes is yet to fire after having joined the team late. While Jos Buttler has not been consistent enough with the bat.
Sanju Samson has been subdued after his early exploits while Robin Uthappa seems to have found some form at the top, scoring 41 off 22 balls against RCB.
The Jofra Archer-led bowling attack came up short against a marauding RCB batsmen.
Head-to-head
| Mat | CSK wins | RR wins | CSK win% | RR win% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CSK vs RR | 22 | 14 | 8 | 63.63 | 36.37 |
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 |
RR squad
| Batsmen | Bowlers | All-rounders | Wicketkeepers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mahipal Lomror | Ankit Rajpoot | Shreyas Gopal | Jos Buttler |
| Manan Vohra | Mayank Markande | Ben Stokes | Robin Uthappa |
| Riyan Parag | Jofra Archer | Rahul Tewatia | Sanju Samson |
| David Miller | Varun Aaron | Shashank Singh | Anuj Rawat |
| Steve Smith | Jaydev Unadkat | Anirudha Joshi | |
| Yashasvi Jaiswal | Kartik Tyagi | ||
| Akash Singh | |||
| Andrew Tye | |||
| Oshane Thomas | |||
| Tom Curran |
Match starts at 7.30 pm IST and will be live on Star Sports network / Disney+ Hotstar
(With PTI inputs)