Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings, IPL 2021, Today Match Prediction 21 Apr 2021

kkr vs csk Match Prediction & Analysis

We are into the 15th game of the Indian Premier League 2021 where the Kolkata Knight Riders would be up against the Chennai Super Kings. The Knight Riders are in deep trouble at the moment and lost their last game against the Royal Challengers Bangalore. Chennai Super Kings is looking in good form for now and defeated the Rajasthan Royals by a big margin in their last game. 

Kolkata Knight Riders’ bowling attack seems to be bowling without a plan at the moment and we saw this in the last game where they were all over the place. They will need to stick to better lines for the side to win in this game. Chennai Kings are doing most of the things right at the moment and the same would be expected from them here. 

TEAMS PREVIEW

Kolkata Knight Riders Preview

Poor form continues for Eoin Morgan’s side as they went down against the Royal Challengers Bangalore by 38 runs. Poor bowling and strange captaincy were the reasons behind the side’s loss in the last game and they would have to make a strong comeback from here. The side doesn’t have best of records against CSK and shall have to believe in itself to win this game. 

Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana are getting starts and the side would be expecting a strong show from them in this game. In the middle order they would need runs from Rahul Tripathi, Morgan and Dinesh Karthik. Shakib Al Hasan and Andre Russell played well in the last game and they would need to score quick runs towards the end of the innings which we haven’t seen from the side so far. 

Varun Chakravarthy is doing well at the moment and the side would look for a good start from him and Harbhajan Singh. Pat Cummins has done well but the side would be expecting better show from Shakib who hasn’t been able to stop the flow of runs so far. Prasidh Krishna and Russell will have to come out of their inconsistency for the side to win in this game. 

Top Batsman – Shubman Gill     
Top Bowler – Pat Cummins 

Kolkata Knight Riders Predicted Playing XI:

Eoin Morgan (c), Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Shakib Al Hasan, Pat Cummins, Harbhajan Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy

Kolkata Knight Riders Actual Playing XI:

Shubman Gill, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna, Pat Cummins, Nitish Rana, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Dinesh Karthik, RA Tripathi

Chennai Super Kings Preview

MS Dhoni’s side had made a poor start losing their first game but the side is now back in song with two massive wins. It was a clinical effort from the side in the last game against the Rajasthan Royals that saw them to 45 run win. Dhoni would be well aware of the trouble Kolkata is facing at the moment and shall look to exploit it here in this game. 

Rituraj Gaikwad hasn’t scored too many runs in the three games and shall need to support his partner Faf du Plessis who is doing well at the moment. Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu and Suresh Raina are all scoring runs adding to the side’s confidence. Ravindra Jadeja, Dhoni, Sam Curran and Dwayne Bravo have good hitting abilities and this is adding strength to their batting. 

Sam Curran and Shardul Thakur bowled well in the last game and this is welcome news for the side as they had been expensive in the season opener. Deepak Chahar was expensive in the last game but he has looked good so far. Jadeja and Moeen Ali have been magnificent with the ball and the side would be looking at them to continue with the same show in the next game. 

Top Batsman – Faf du Plessis     
Top Bowler – Deepak Chahar

Chennai Super Kings Predicted Playing XI:

MS Dhoni (c & wk), Rituraj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Imran Tahir, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar

Chennai Super Kings Actual Playing XI:

Lungi Ngidi, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Deepak Chahar, SN Thakur, Ravindra Jadeja, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Sam Curran, MS Dhoni

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

There would be odd clouds over Mumbai on April 21 and we expect this game to be a high scoring one like others we have seen in this season so far. Bowlers would find it hard bowling on this flat surface and the side that bats first here would have to aim at a score of more than 180 runs to feel safe.

Venue Details

Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai is a small ground with a batting friendly wicket and this makes life easy for the batsmen. Fast bowlers have to make good use of their variations to do well on this track. Spinners who flight the ball are able to achieve good turn from the surface and have earned their rewards.

Toss: To Bowl

It is a good wicket to chase down totals as the pitch is good throughput the game. Only twice have sides won games here batting first so far in the season. There is early assistance for the bowlers here and hence we expect the side winning the toss to opt for bowling first on this surface.