PBKS wins toss, to bowl first against CSK

Punjab Kings (PBKS) won the toss and decided to bowl first in the IPL match against home favourites and five-time winners Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the packed holiday crowd at Chepauk Stadium here on Wednesday night.

With centuries galore and scores in excess of 200, 250-plus being the norm so far, one interesting fact is PBKS is the only team that has conceded 200-plus total only once in this edition.

PBKS, which is fresh from surmounting the highest successful chase in T20 history and has a 4-0 record against CSK in its last four matches, retains the same team. 

CSK, eyeing for a record sixth title, made two changes, with pacers Matheesha Pathirana (slight niggle) and Tushar Desphande (unwell) missing out. They were replaced by Sharadul Thakur and England's fast bowler Richard James Gleeson, who will be making his debut. 

With 10 points in nine matches (5 wins and 4 losses) CSK, placed fourth in the points table after winning the four of the five home matches and an away match, will move to third spot on better net run rate if it wins against PBKS, which has been languishing in the eighth slot with six points in nine matches. Sunrisers Hyderabad (5 wins in 9 matches) and Delhi Capitals (5 wins in 11 matches), with ten points each (placed 5th and 6th respectively in the points table) were on level with CSK, which was placed higher by virtue of its better net run rate.

A win will also help CSK further consolidate its position for a place in the play-offs, while a victory for PBKS will open up the points table, setting up an interesting race for the play offs.

Rajasthan Royals tops the table with 16 points (8 wins in 9 matches), followed by Kolkata Knight Riders 12 points (6 wins in 9 matches) and Lucknow Super giants 12 points (6 wins in 10 matches).

This is the sixth home match for CSK. This will be Bangladeshi left arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman's last game with CSK as he will be returning home for national duty. He started this year's edition with a bang claiming four wickets in the first match and won the man-of-the-match award.

He was ranked second in the purple cap chart with 14 wickets. Jasprit Bumrah (MI) tops the table with 14 wickets. Mustafizur Rahman and Harshal Patel with 14 wickets each, was ranked 2nd and 3rd, followed by CSK sling bowler Matheesha Pathirana(CSK) with 13 wickets.

Four other bowlers with 13 wickets apiece were in the next four spots.

Teams :
CSK :
Ajinkya Rahane, Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), Daryl Mitchell, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube,
Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), Deepak Chahar, Sharadul Thakur, Mustafizur
Rahman, Richard James Gleeson. 

PBKS :
Sam Curran (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Rilee Rossouw, Jitesh Sharma, Shashank 
Singh, Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Harshal Patel Kasigo 
Rabada, Arshdeep Singh.