Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will clash with defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in match no. 28 of the Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 in Chennai on Tuesday.
CSK seem to have recovered from their loss against Rajasthan Royals (RR) and bounced back big time with two back-to-back impressive victories against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP). Meanwhile, KKR would be desperate to get back to winning ways as their last match against the Royals was washed out due to rain and as a result they were out of action for five days. It will be a tough task for KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir and his men in purple.
Here are some of the key battles from this high-intensity match:
Gautam Gambhir Vs Ashish Nehra: Gambhir has tried to lead his side from the front and has set an example with his bat. He is KKR's highest run scorer but he will have to face the Nehra challenge, who has shown some fine left-arm fast bowling in this tournament.
Brendon McCullum Vs Sunil Narine: McCullum has been in fine form, scoring some important runs at the top of the order alongside Dwayne Smith. He will surely come hard on the KKR bowling attack right from the word go. On the other hand, time has not been on Narine's side as he has not been up to the mark in this edition of IPL. But he is a crafty spinner; if he is included in the side despite the suspect action issue, he is likely to trouble most of CSK's batsmen.
Dwayne Smith Vs Morne Morkel: Smith too has been in fine touch alongside McCullum. Their opening partnership has been the key to CSK's success recently. He can hit the ball a long way if he is allowed to free his arms. Morkel has to be careful while bowling at him. He should use his height to generate some nasty bounce and try to bring Smith out of his comfort zone.
Ravichandran Ashwin Vs Surya Kumar Yadav: Ashwin is an experienced customer and he is the go-to man for skipper MS Dhoni. He brings down the run rate during the middle overs and that's where the pressure starts building up on the opponent. Yadav on the other hand is a clean striker of the ball. He is brilliant off his pads when the fast bowlers are bowling at him, but will he be equally effective with the spin?
