Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) take on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Match 29 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Tuesday (October 13). Both teams are in desperate need of a victory in a bid to make it to the playoffs this season – none more than CSK – who have had a woeful season so far.

CSK can take comfort from the fact that they have won nine out of their 13 meetings against SRH in the IPL and have a slender 3-2 lead in the previous five matches as well.

IPL HEAD-TO-HEAD

Overall: Matches – 13 | CSK – 9 Wins | SRH – 4 Wins

Last 5 matches: CSK – 3 Wins | SRH – 2 Wins

Suggested Teams

While you could go for the above team, you also have the option of choosing your own team from cricket.com’s Fantasy Research Centre. Based on algorithms we come up with six different teams that could fetch crucial points.

Ground Details

Among the three grounds where matches have been played this season, Dubai is slowly turning into a venue which is getting better and better for the bowlers as the matches roll on. Could it be due to the wear and tear of the wickets? Quite possibly. The bowlers have struck every 30.4 runs and 22.3 deliveries apart, which is more or less on par with Abu Dhabi.

The average first innings score at Dubai has been 179, while the average score batting second has been just 149. Hence, the team winning the toss should ideally bat first. Out of the 12 matches, teams batting first have won 10 times at this venue. 

Initially, the teams opted to bowl first to avoid the dew in the second half of the match, but more and more teams have been batting first to reap the benefits of a slower and worn out track when they have to defend.

Team Combination

Dubai is one venue wherein the spinners have done better than the pacers, however the latter have picked up more wickets. The pacers have more than 62% of the wickets this season in Dubai, but have done it at an average of 31.8 (Spinners: 28.3) and have a wicket every 22.3 deliveries (Spinners: 22.1). The spinners also have a better economy rate (7.7) than the pacers (8.5), which is the case with the other two venues as well. 

There are also a few interesting matchups to look forward to

It’s an evenly matched contest between David Warner and Dwayne Bravo. While Warner has scored at an average of 27.3 and strike-rate of 111.2 against Bravo, the West Indies allrounder has managed to get the better of the SRH captain on four occasions in the 16 meetings between them.

While both Manish Pandey and Shardul Thakur have been a tad inconsistent over the years, the contests between them has been a rather one-sided affair. The CSK fast bowler has dismissed Pandey thrice in 23 balls. The SRH batsman has managed to score at just over run-a-ball.

Faf du Plessis is just one of three batsman to have scored more than 300 runs this season. While on paper, Vijay Shankar does not seem to be much of a match for du Plessis, the SRH allrounder has managed to get the better of the CSK opener both times they have come up against each other. Moreover, du Plessis, who has done an admirable job against all bowling attacks this season averages just 1.5 against Shankar. This contest could throw up a surprise once again in this match.

Captain selection

No player has more 50-plus scores (50) in IPL history than David Warner. The SRH skipper is slowly getting into his stride, having registered two fifties in the last three innings. Warner has been dismissed just once in the Powerplay this season in his seven innings, setting himself a good platform from which he can go big. Despite scoring at a strike-rate of a shade under 110 in the first six overs, he has upped that to more than 140 during the remainder of the match, which makes him a dangerous player once set. Added to this, he has five fifties from his six previous innings against CSK, which further makes him an ideal choice to lead your fantasy side.

Our Criclytics player projection predicts, Warner could score 17-40 runs in this match.

X-Factors

CSK opener Faf du Plessis has been among the runs for CSK this season, but has missed out on scoring big in the last two matches. However, du Plessis prior to the match against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) had scores of 87*, 22 and 43 in Dubai and he will be looking to make amends in this match against SRH. Du Plessis has 307 runs at 61.40 to go with a strike-rate of 147.59 in the tournament so far and will once again be a key figure in CSK’s top-order.

Our Criclytics player projection predicts, du Plessis could score 14-37 runs in this match.

Shardul Thakur in his four matches in the tournament so far is yet to go wicketless. He has picked up two wickets in each of his three previous appearances and a similar performance in this match could see him fetch your team a lot of points. He has struck once every 13.7 deliveries this season at an average of under 20. His variations could come in handy in a venue like Dubai, where the wear and tear of the surface is evident.

Our Criclytics player projection predicts, Thakur could pick up 1-2 wickets in this match.

One of the best T20 bowlers in the world, Rashid Khan is another integral part of the SRH line-up. Rashid has six wickets in his last three matches and is Warner’s go-to bowler. His immaculate lines and lengths make it hard for the batsmen to put him away and as a result, more often than not, are keen to see him out. However, a clever operator like Rashid always finds a way to get the better of his opponents. 

Our Criclytics player projection predicts, Rashid could pick up 1-2 wickets in this match.