CHENNAI: CSK are riding the winds of change. After beginning the season with three straight defeats, they have stitched together back-to-back wins to pull themselves into playoff contention with 10 points from 10 games.Even bottom-placed Lucknow Super Giants, on six points from 10, are not out of the race mathematically, improbable as it may look. They need to win their remaining four matches and hope other results fall their way.
When the teams meet at MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday afternoon, the stakes will be unforgiving.For CSK, victory can give their late push real weight. For LSG, another slip could leave their campaign at the exit door. The immediate question is whether Lucknow’s newly-settled batting unit can withstand the heat of a CSK attack that has found rhythm at just the perfect time.After weeks of playing musical chairs with their batting XI, LSG appear to have found some stability. Mitchell Marsh rediscovered his destructive touch with a spectacular hundred in their rain-hit win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Skipper Rishabh Pant and Nicholas Pooran, both searching for fluency, chipped in with brisk cameos too.Their bigger test, though, will be against a disciplined CSK bowling unit. Anshul Kamboj, the season’s jointleading wicket-taker, has led the pace group with clarity while Jamie Overton, Mukesh Choudhary and Gurjapneet Singh have supplied energy and bite. In CSK’s clinical win over Delhi Capitals in their previous outing, the bowlers restricted the hosts to 155/7 before Sanju Samson finished the chase with authority.
