Struggling Sunrisers face tough CSK challenge (Preview)

With just three wins from seven matches, struggling Sunrisers Hyderabad will have no other option but to go all out when they face a dominant Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium here on Saturday.

Placed fifth in the standings, Sunrisers have just managed six points, losing four, whereas CSK, despite losing to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Thursday, have maintained the top spot with 12 points from eight games, having lost just two.

The first leg match between the two sides saw CSK beating Sunrisers by 45 runs on April 11 where CSK opener Brendon McCullum scored a magnificent 100 off 56 balls. The home side scored 209 in 20 overs. But skipper David Warner's half-century went in vain as they Sunrisers were restricted to 164/6.

CSK will again bank on their batting strength of McCullum, Dwayne Smith, Suresh Raina, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo to outclass Sunrisers.

Their bowling line-up comprising old horse Ashish Nehra, who has been brilliant of late, will be eager to get some wickets under his belt again, along with Mohit Sharma, spinners Ravindra Jadeja, Pawan Negi.

Whereas Sunrisers will be playing their first match at their 'real' home in 2015, after earlier playing at Visakhapatnam, will be hoping for either their batting or bowling to fire at the start against a strong CSK.

The side will again look up to openers Warner and Shikhar Dhawan to give them a good start, considering the poor run of their middle order.

International speedsters present in the squad like Dale Steyn and Trent Boult are yet to fire with the ball. While Indians Bhuvneshwar Kumar and spinner Karn Sharma will aim to prove a point.

The squads:

Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohit Sharma, Ashish Nehra, Baba Aparajith, Ishwar Pandey, Mithun Minhas, Pawan Negi, Ronit More, Rahul Sharma, Ankush Bains, Irfan Pathan, Pratyush Singh, Ekalavya Dwivedi, Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Michael Hussey, Matt Henry, Samuel Badree, Kyle Abbott, Andrew Tye.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Dale Steyn, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Moises Henriques, Lokesh Rahul, Parvez Rasool, Naman Ojha, Ashish Reddy, Ricky Bhui, Chama Milind, Karn Sharma, Kane Williamson, Eoin Morgan, Ravi Bopara, Bipul Sharma, Trent Boult, Praveen Kumar, Hanuma Vihari, Prasanth Padmanabhan, Siddarth Kaul.