IPL 2021: Match 38, CSK vs KKR Match Prediction – Who will win today’s IPL match?

Preview 

Chennai Super Kings are set to lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders in Match No.38 of the 2021 Indian Premier League on Sunday, September 26 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The Knight Riders, led by Eoin Morgan, have started the UAE leg of the event on a thunderous note.

The Men in Gold and Purple defeated the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi to enter the top four. Going into the next game, KKR can take heart from the fact that they beat the MS Dhoni-led Super Kings last year when they faced each other at the same venue.

CSK, on the other hand, must be high on confidence as well. They have beaten the Challengers and Mumbai to climb the top of the points table. Another win will almost take them into the playoffs. In their previous meeting, CSK defeated the Knights by 18 runs after posting 220 for three on the board.

Match Details

Match – Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders – 38th match

Venue – Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Time – 3:30 PM IST, 10:00 AM GMT

Where to watch live – Star Sports Network, Hotstar

Pitch Report

The pitch in Abu Dhabi has been a tricky one for batting in the tournament, especially for the teams, batting first. The spinners have gotten quite a significant amount of turn from the surface. Chasing has been easier on the track.

Avg first innings score: 159 (Last 25 matches in the IPL at Abu Dhabi)

Record of chasing teams: Won – 15, Lost – 10, Tied – 0

Probable Playing XIs:

Chennai Super Kings

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood

Bench: Robin Uthappa, KM Asif, Jason Behrendorff, Bhagath Verma, Krishnappa Gowtham, Narayan Jagadeesan, Lungi Ngidi, Cheteshwar Pujara, Harishankar Reddy, R Sai Kishore, Karn Sharma, Sam Curran, Imran Tahir

Kolkata Knight Riders

Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan(c), Dinesh Karthik(w), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna

Bench: Karun Nair, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Shakib Al Hasan, Ben Cutting, Pawan Negi, Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Tim Southee, Sheldon Jackson, Tim Seifert, Harbhajan Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sandeep Warrier, Vaibhav Arora

Head-to-Head

Overall

Played – 26 | Chennai Super Kings – 16 | Kolkata Knight Riders – 9 |N/R – 0

In the UAE

Played – 2 | Chennai Super Kings – 1 | Kolkata Knight Riders – 1 |N/R – 0

Probable best batter of the match

Venkatesh Iyer— Kolkata Knight Riders

Venkatesh Iyer has made a thunderous start to his IPL sojourn. On debut against the RCB, he stayed unbeaten on 41, but against MI, the southpaw put his best foot forward. He went on to score 53 runs and made a mockery of the target Mumbai set them to chase. He has played at a strike rate of 164.91 and most importantly, he has looked fearless at the top of the order.

Probable best bowler of the match

Varun Chakravarthy– Kolkata Knight Riders

Varun Chakravarthy has had a sensational run in the second leg of IPL 2021. The spinner has 10 wickets to his name from nine matches at an impressive economy rate of 7.05. In the UAE leg of the IPL, the tweaker has picked up four wickets and has bowled at an economy of a shade over six. If he gets into his groove, the CSK batters may find themselves in a lot of trouble.

Today’s match prediction: Kolkata Knight Riders to win the match.

Disclaimer: This prediction is based on the understanding, analysis, and instinct of the author. While making your prediction, consider the points mentioned, and make your own decision.