Playing XI
Venue Insights (Dubai)
Highest Team Total : 206/3 By Punjab Against Bangalore In 2020.
Lowest Team Total : 109/10 By Bangalore Against Punjab In 2020.
Highest Individual Score : 132 By KL Rahul (Punjab) Against Bangalore In 2020.
Best Bowling Figures : 4/14 By Mohit Sharma (Chennai) Against Mumbai In 2014.
Highest Partnership : 181 By Shane Watson And Faf Du Plessis (Chennai) For 1st Wicket Against Punjab In 2020.
Win Rate Batting First : 50% (5 Won; 5 Lost)
Top Fantasy Picks - All Rounders
Morris has taken 7 wickets in just 2 matches at Dubai while at other venues he has managed to take just 2 wickets in 3 matches this season. Thus he will be an interesting prospect given that this match is also at Dubai.
Jadeja might not have picked up wickets so far but now might be the right time as the pitches have started to slow down. Also, in his last 4 matches he has scored 100 runs with the bat.
Sam Curran has been a complete all-rounder for Chennai. Stat alert: He is the only player this season who has taken a minimum of 10 wickets and scored a minimum of 150 runs (10 wickets and 173 runs for him).
Top Fantasy Picks - Bowlers
With 15 wickets Chahal is the leading wicket taker for Bengaluru this season and he is coming off from a back to back 2-fers in the recent matches. Also, his best bowling figures for this season (3/18) was at Dubai.
Wicketless in the last match, but before that he took 4 wickets in 2 matches. Deepak Chahar can be crucial against struggling Finch and relatively new Padikkal as swing is what Chahar has discovered back.
Imran Tahir might be wicket-less in the last match but he is coming off from a brilliant CPL (he was the 3rd highest wicket taker in the series with 15 wickets). A look at his last 4 matches against Bengaluru: 1/31, 3/9, 2/35 and 3/18 (total 9 wickets).
Top Fantasy Picks - Batsmen & Keepers
With 365 runs, Kohli is the leading run getter for Bengaluru this season. Stat alert: His highest score this season (90* of 52 balls) was indeed against Chennai at Dubai; the same opponent and venue of today’s fixture.
Padikkal has scored 321 runs (10 matches) so far in the tournament which includes 3 fifties, 3 scores in the thirties and only 2 single digit scores.Thus proving that even if he doesn’t score big, he gives you enough fantasy points with scores of 20s and 30s.
Ambati Rayudu has scored 213 runs for Chennai against Bengaluru in the IPL at an average of 42.6, making him an interesting pick as the numbers are very good.
Probable XI
Bangalore : Devdutt Padikkal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli(c), AB de Villiers(wk), Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Washington Sundar, Chris Morris, Isuru Udana, Mohammed Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal
Chennai : Sam Curran, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, N Jagadeesan, MS Dhoni(c/wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Josh Hazlewood, Imran Tahir
Preview
It is the master and his apprentice meeting in Dubai, possibly for the last time in this season, in match 44 of the Indian T20 League, 2020. With 8 defeats in 11 games, Chennai are in complete disarray. Bangalore, on the other hand, are on the cusp of a hat-trick of wins. Theoretically, Chennai can still make it to the playoffs but they will need a lot of games going in their favour. They have struggled in all departments of the game. Coming to Bangalore, they have been in riveting form. This is one of those rare seasons where their bowling has been talked about more, than their batting. They say, batsmen win you games, bowlers win you championships. The inclusion of Morris has certainly given rise to the latter phrase. Bangalore look all set for an outright win, but Chennai are now in a space where they have nothing to lose. Might just help them play freely and bring out their best
Toss : Bangalore won the toss and elected to bat first.