What

The Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals, two teams who have already secured a playoff spot, will compete in Match 50 of VIVO IPL 2019.

The Super Kings, the first team to secure a playoff spot, have lost a bit of momentum in the last ten days; after winning seven of their first eight matches, they’ve only managed to win one from their last four matches. In the previous match against the Mumbai Indians, CSK were handicapped by the unavailability of captain MS Dhoni and Ravindra Jadeja after both players reported unwell. Despite keeping the Mumbai Indians down to a modest 155-4, CSK struggled in their run-chase, eventually being bowled out for 109.

On the eve of the match, the CSK coach Stephen Fleming was quoted as saying Dhoni is still on his way to full recovery, while Jadeja had recovered completely and will be available for selection.

The Delhi Capitals will progress beyond the league stage for the first time since 2012.Table-toppers currently, they’ve won six of their last seven matches, including all four on the road.It should delight the Delhi Captains team management that the team has found different match-winners almost every time; five different players have won the Man of the Match awards in their last six wins.

When

1 May 2019, 8pm IST

Where

MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

Previous Match XIs:

Chennai Super Kings:Murali Vijay, Shane Watson, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Dhruv Shorey, Dwayne Bravo, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir.

Delhi Capitals:Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Colin Ingram, Sherfane Rutherford, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra, Sandeep Lamichhane, Ishant Sharma, Kagiso Rabada.

Protagonists

It might not be panic stations just yet, but the Chennai Super Kings management must be getting a little worried about Suresh Raina’s form. The left-hander – the only cricketer to score more than 350 runs in each of the previous 11 seasons – has only 247 runs in twelve hits this season. Raina occupies the crucial number three position and hence it is important that he discovers form quickly. The rest of the CSK middle-order has done very little of note too; Ambati Rayudu has one half-century in eight innings since slipping down to the middle-order, while Kedar Jadhav has only one half-century all season and a total of 56 runs in his last seven innings. MS Dhoni has repeatedly covered up the cracks in the middle order; but now in the business end of the season, CSK would want all their batsmen to be among the runs.

Shikhar Dhawan has always been a consistent run-scorer, but this season he has added another gear to his game; after scoring at 116.03 in the first six games, he seems to have made a conscious approach to score quickly and that reflects in his strike-rate of 151.01 in the second half of the season.

It has also helped the Delhi Capitals that their captain Shreyas Iyer is pulling his weight at number three. The only thing DC will ask of their captain – at this crucial stage in the competition – is for consistency; in the last few matches, every good performance has followed a single-digit score, and DC cannot afford their captain to have a poor outing in one of the crunch matches.

On the bowling front, plenty will be expected off Harbhajan Singh and Imran Tahir, while the Delhi Capitals will expect Kagiso Rabada to continue his good work – particularly at the back end, and hope their own tweakers – Amit Mishra and Sandeep Lamichhane – can use the conditions to their benefit.

Head to Head in Indian Premier League

Overall: Matches – 19,Chennai Super Kings – 13, Delhi Capitals – 6.

In Chennai: Matches – 7, Chennai Super Kings – 5, Delhi Capitals – 2.

Last League-stage Fixture:

For Chennai Super Kings: 5 May - v Kings XI Punjab in Mohali.

For Delhi Capitals: 4 May – v Rajasthan Royals in Delhi.