CSK aim to cement top spot against KXIP (Preview)

Having already booked their berth in the playoffs, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will want to strengthen their top spot in the points table when they take on Kings XI Punjab in their last group stage encounter of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) edition at the IS Bindra Stadium, here on Sunday.

Chennai thrashed Delhi Capitals by 80 runs in their last match at MA Chidambaram Stadium, thus sealing the top spot with 18 points.

Chennai would be buoyed by the fact that their skipper MS Dhoni is in tremendous form in the ongoing season and has scored valuable runs towards the end.

Their bowling mainly relies on the spin trio of Imran Tahir, Harbhajan Singh and Ravindra Jadeja who have been amongst the wickets throughout this IPL.

On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) dented Kings XI's chances of finishing in the top four after beating them by seven wickets in Mohali.

Kings XI openers KL Rahul and Chris Gayle failed to score against KKR, a reason why they couldn't reach the 200-run mark in Mohali. However, Sam Curran's form is something which will give a lot of confidence to the Punjab-based franchise.

With 10 points from 13 games, Kings XI must win against CSK to stay alive in the competition. However, it wouldn't be an easy task for R. Ashwin's men to secure victory against a formidable and consistent CSK.

Kings XI Punjab: Chris Gayle, Moises Henriques, Ravichandran Ashwin (c), Mayank Agarwal, Mandeep Singh, David Miller, Mohammed Shami, Karun Nair, Lokesh Rahul (wk), Murugan Ashwin, Ankit Rajpoot, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Hardus Viljoen, Andrew Tye, Sam Curran, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Agnivesh Ayachi, Darshan Nalkande, Arshdeep Singh, Simran Singh, Harpreet Brar

Chennai Super Kings: Harbhajan Singh, Shane Watson, Dwayne Bravo, MS Dhoni (c), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Murali Vijay, Karn Sharma, Kedar Jadhav, Ambati Rayudu, Imran Tahir, Faf du Plessis, Deepak Chahar, Mohit Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Dhruv Shorey, Scott Kuggeleijn, Monu Kumar, Mitchell Santner, Chaitanya Bishnoi, N Jagadeesan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KM Asif

--IANS

aak/mag/