The IPL 2020 encounter between KKR and CSK is scheduled to begin at 7:30 pm (IST) with the toss to be held at 7:30 pm (IST)
How have the teams fared in the tournament
3-time champs Chennai Super Kings (CSK) who were on a downslide losing three games on the trot got their campaign back on track after a emphatic 10-wicket win against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), riding high on blazing half tons by Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis.
Kolkata Knight Riders have blown hot and cold in the opening two weeks of the season with a mixed bag of results. The Kolkata franchise which won two games on the trot against SRH and RR after losing their opener to defending champions MI, were handed a 18-run defeat in their last game against Delhi Capitals (DC).
What have been the pros and cons for the teams in the season so far
KKR's batting has done well in bits and pieces but hasn't gelled well as a unit. Opener Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana and Eoin Morgan have produced some eye catching knocks but it hasn't been enough to take the team across the finishing line. However, the woeful form of skipper Dinesh Karthik and opener Sunil Narine has been a major cause of worry for the 'Purple Brigade'.
KKR will also hope that Andre Russell can produce those whirlwind cameos down the order. The hard hitting Windies all-rounder has been subdued in the early part of the tournament.
Chennai Super Kings would be more than delighted with their opener Shane Watson coming back into form with a quick-fire 50 in the last game against KXIP. While Faf Du Plessis has been ever consistent in the middle order, he would need much more support from the skipper MS Dhoni, Kedhar Jadhav and Ambati Rayadu to put up some challenging totals.
Both the teams have a fine mix of all-rounds to lend balance to their playing elevens. While CSK has Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo and Sam Curran; KKR have the two Windies imports in Sunil Narine and Andre Russell.
Spin will come into play once again at Abu Dhabi and it will be interesting to see which out of the two spin armories' proves to be more effective later in the evening.
Death bowling has been a major worry for both teams as the seamers on either sides have gone for plenty in their previous matches. KKR star seamer Pat Cummins has proven to be very costly in a few games with both with the new ball and at the death. Meanwhile youngsters Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi have fared a bit better.
Here are the full squads for Kolkata Knight Roders and Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2020:
Chennai Super Kings (CSK): MS Dhoni (Captain), M Vijay, Ambati Rayudu, Faf du Plessis, Shane Watson, Kedar Jadhav, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Lungi Ngidi, Deepak Chahar, Piyush Chawla, Imran Tahir, Mitchell Santner, Josh Hazlewood, Shardul Thakur, Sam Curran, N Jagadeesan, KM Asif, Monu Kumar, R Sai Kishore, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Karn Sharma
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR): Dinesh Karthik (Captain), Andre Russell, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Rinku Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Siddhesh Lad, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Eoin Morgan, Varun Chakravarthy, Tom Banton, Rahul Tripathi, Chris Green, M Siddharth, Nikhil Naik, Ali Khan