SRH vs CSK: Can Kane Williamson's men show Dhoni's side who's the boss?

Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to get back to winning ways when they go up against the Chennai Super Kings in the 20th fixture of the Indian Premier League 2018.

SRH had a run of three consecutive wins, but their unbeaten streak was halted when Kings XI Punjab defeated them by 15 runs in Mohali. The formula that had worked for Sunrisers in their first three matches was to restrict their opponents to totals in the region of 140-160, and then chase them down. But against KXIP they were set a testing target – of 194, and were found wanting with the bat. Among the bowlers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar was excellent as usual, and Siddarth Kaul got away with respectable figures, but Rashid Khan had a forgettable outing – suffering at the hands of Chris Gayle, who struck the season’s first century.

Source: Hindustan Times

For the Sunrisers, the task only gets difficult from now on. Up next for them are the two-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings, who are coming on the back of a huge win against the Rajasthan Royals. Chennai Super Kings' crushing 64-run victory over the Rajasthan Royals in the last game propelled them to the top of the IPL 2018 points table. They have now won three and lost one out of four league matches. CSK have been outstanding with the bat so far, breaching the 200-run mark twice. A win for the Hyderabad franchise will take them to the top spot and a win for the CSK would also do the same for them.

Source: www.cricbuzz.com

In head-to-head clashes previously, Chennai Super Kings hold a significant advantage winning five out of their seven games, but with major changes to both their squads, the contest appears evenly matched. The biggest cause of concern for SRH will be Shikhar Dhawan, who suffered a nasty blow to his elbow off the first ball he faced against KXIP and had retired hurt.

SRH vs CSK Head to Head

Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad have played six matches against each other in the IPL with the former winning four of those and the latter just two.

Sunrisers Hyderabad defended their total of 192 to win the match by 22 runs when they last faced Chennai Super Kings in the 2015 season.

Total Matches: 6; Sunrisers Hyderabad: 2; Chennai Super Kings: 4

Match Prediction

• Sunrisers is hoping to emulate its success from 2016, but may find it tough. While it has kept its core team and chosen Kane Williamson as the captain, the chances are high that Chennai Super Kings will win the game. Here are the reasons why this could happen:
• Chennai Super Kings’ strength is its core team that has been playing together for several years and hence, has the understanding it takes to win matches
• CSK has batting depth that can make latter overs very lucrative
• MS Dhoni is one of the best captains of all formats, including T20
• The team’s spinners will end up deciding the match and are capable wicket takers
• CSK’s trump card is Harbhajan Singh, who has been picked by the team after spending ten years with Mumbai Indians

Sunrisers Hyderabad Team Full Squad:

Kane Williamson (C), Tanmay Agarwal, Khaleel Ahmed, Basil Thampi, Ricky Bhui, Bipul Sharma, Carlos Brathwaite, Shikhar Dhawan, Shreevats Goswami, Alex Hales, Mehdi Hasan, Deepak Hooda, Chris Jordan, Siddarth Kaul, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammad Nabi, T Natarajan, Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Rashid Khan, Sachin Baby, Wriddhiman Saha (W), Sandeep Sharma, Shakib Al Hasan, Billy Stanlake.

Chennai Super Kings Full Team Squad:

MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, Dwayne Bravo, Karn Sharma, Shane Watson, Shardul Thakur, Ambati Rayudu, Murali Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Faf Du Plessis, Mark Wood, Sam Billings, Imran Tahir, Deepak Chahar, Mitchell Santner, Lungisani Ngidi, Asif KM, N Jagadeesan, Kanishk Seth, Monu Singh, Dhruv Shorey, Kshitiz Sharma, Chaitanya Bishnoi.

EXPECTED 11:

Sunrisers Hyderabad:

Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shikhar Dhawan/Hales, Kane Williamson(c), Manish Pandey, Shakib Al Hasan, Deepak Hooda, Yusuf Pathan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Rashid Khan, Siddarth Kaul, Jordan/Thampi.

Chennai Super Kings:

Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Raina, Sam Billings, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Karn Sharma, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir