CSK vs RR: Pitch report and statistical preview
Chennai Super Kings will welcome Rajasthan Royals to Pune in match number 17 of 2018 IPL. Both sides last met almost 3 years ago and will be hungry to get the better of the other. Rajasthan Royals have won two matches and lost twice so far, while CSK have won two and lost just one game this season. Here is our pre-match report.
Samson is Super Kings' biggest threat
Sanju Samson is in red-hot form and has not scored less than 30 runs in 6 out of his last 7 innings. Before his last match against KKR, he had 346 runs in 6 T20 innings at an average of 86.5. Against KKR, he scored just 7. Samson needs 66 more runs to become the 5th player to slam 1,000 IPL runs for RR.
MS Dhoni loves playing at Pune
The MCA stadium is MS Dhoni's happy hunting ground. The Chennai Super Kings captain averages a whopping 52.71 with the bat in T20s here. Dhoni has scored 369 runs at this venue in just 14 innings. His top score in Pune is 61*.
Meet Ajinkya Rahane 2.0
Rahane has, time and again, been criticized for his low strike rate. However, the tables have turned this season. Rahane's strike rate against KKR soared to 189.47 during his 19-ball 36-run knock. He also scored at a strike rate of 180 against Bangalore. Before this season, Rahane had never scored 30+ runs in an IPL match at a strike rate of 180+.
Landmark games for Unadkat and Jadeja
Tonight's encounter against Chennai Super Kings will be Jaydev Unadkat's 100th T20 game of his career. Till now, he has 125 wickets in 99 matches. Moreover, this match will also be Ravindra Jadeja's 200th match in the Twenty20 format.
Suresh Raina loves to score against Rajasthan Royals
Injured Suresh Raina has scored 471 runs in the IPL against Rajasthan Royals. These runs have come in 17 innings at an average of 27.70 with three fifties. Only AB de Villiers has more runs against Royals with 505 to his name.
Spinners tend to have a gala time at MCA
In the 7 IPL matches, that were played at this venue last season, spinners bagged 29 wickets at an average of 23.83 and an economy of 7.14. Only the Chinnaswamy stadium had a lower bowling average for spinners in 2017. Spinners, on both sides, will have a huge role to play and notably Rajasthan's batsmen have been struggling against spin this season.
