Chennai Super Kings vs. Kings XI Punjab Prediction - CSK will dominate the game

One of the most favourite teams of the IPL, Chennai Super Kings, will take over Kings XI Punjab in a game that will be the opening one for both. CSK was the runner up in the 6^th edition of the Indian Premier League whereas Kings XI Punjab held the sixth spot in that competition. The first unit will try to maintain their brilliant record while the later will go for the big impact.

Players to watch

Chennai Super Kings will be without the services of Albie Morkel, Michael Hussey and Subramaniam Badrinath who played for them for five seasons. The top scorer in the IPL so far, Suresh Raina, will anticipate continuing with his great record. The highest run getter in T20 internationals, Brendon McCullum, along with his skipper MS Dhoni will guard the middle order. Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja have performed excellently in IPL while Samuel Badree impressed in the ICC World T20, 2014.

George Bailey became the second Australian after Adam Gilchrist to lead Kings XI Punjab. Glenn Maxwell was at his best with the bat in T20 World Cup 2014 and Virender Sehwag has been performing consistently in the previous IPL tournaments. Mitchell Johnson is another newcomer in the side, he is ranked as one of the deadly fast bowlers and crushed England in the recently concluded Ashes. Lakshmipathy Balaji is ever reliable and Thisrara Perera has emerged as a fine all rounder.

Time & Venue

Friday, April 18, 2014 @ 10:30 GMT, 14:30 local at Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Weather

A bright day with temperatures around 26-36ᵒC

Toss

MS Dhoni loves to chase after winning the toss

The Pitch

Batsmen will enjoy playing their strokes

Teams

Chennai Super Kings – MS Dhoni (C), Baba Aparajith, Ravichandran Ashwin, Samuel Badree, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, John Hastings, Matt Henry, Ben Hilfenhaus, Ravindra Jadeja, Brendon McCullum, Mithun Manhas, Ronit More, Pawan Negi, Ashish Nehra, Ishwar Pandey, Suresh Raina, Vijay Shankar, Mohit Sharma, Dwayne Smith.

Kings XI Punjab – George Bailey (C), Anureet Singh, Parvinder Awana, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Rishi Dhawan, Gurkeet Singh Mann, Beuran Hendricks, Mitchell Johnson, Karanveer Singh, Murali Kartik, Mandeep Singh, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, David Miller, Akshar Patel, Thisara Perera, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha, Sandeep Sharma, Virender Sehwag, Shivam Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Manan Vohra.

Prediction

Chennai Super Kings are favourite to win