IPL 2021, Match 08, April 16th PBKS vs CSK, Wankhede Stadium. Preview PBKS vs CSK in IPL 2021, head to head player stats, records of both Punjab Kings and Chennai Super Kings at this venue plus the best Dream11 predictions PBKS vs CSK.
Key match stats PBKS vs CSK preview
Venue
- Average first innings score at the Wankhede Stadium: 167
- Average first innings winning score at Wankhede Stadium: 178
- Average powerplay score at Wankhede Stadium: 46
- All-time win % batting 1st vs batting 2nd: 48% / 51%
Find full venue stats and records here
Team form PBKS vs CSK preview
- PBKS – W
- CSK – L
- Previous meetings: IPL 2020, CSK won by 10 wickets and CSK won by 9 wickets
IPL 2021 PBKS vs CSK preview
Before we preview the 2021 fixture between PBKS and CSK, it’s worth casting our minds back 6 months ago to last season’s IPL where a beleaguered Super Kings sides still managed to dish out a couple of absolute thrashings to this Punjab Kings outfit the second of which ended their hopes of making it to the playoffs (yet again). However, the 2 teams come into this fixture off the back of very different results in their opening games of IPL 2021 and surely PBKS will be looking to avenge those defeats from last time around.
As has been the case for a few seasons now, batting has been PBKS’s stronger suit and they showed that would likely be the case again in IPL 2021 by hitting the highest score to date. That they came perilously close to not being able to defend that score still underlines the fact that their bowling needs some work. Perhaps though the biggest cause for concern remains the balance of their team. Jhye Richardson is a good lower order hitter but number 7 feels like a position too high and they are also short of genuine 6th or 7th bowling option to take the pressure of the front 5 and also give KL Rahul some choices should 1 or 2 of his main men go around the park as happened on Monday night.
CSK meanwhile showed some good fight in their opening match against DC to come back from the loss of a couple of early wickets and post a competitive total. However, they lacked any real penetration with the ball and they surely need to consider how they will get bowlers with either a bit of pace or a bit of mystery about them into the line-up if they are to take enough wickets to consistently place the opposition under pressure particularly on high scoring pitches like the Wankhede.
Preview PBKS vs CSK head to head stats
PBKS bowling vs CSK batting
We saw in the opening fixture of IPL 2021 for CSK that they struggled up front against the moving ball and PBKS will surely be looking to target the Super Kings top order in exactly the same way in this match.
Powerplay wickets were few and far between for PBKS in IPL 2020 so the double strike early on from Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh will have come as a welcome relief and perhaps points to a stronger showing in IPL 2021 especially considering that they also have Richardson and Meredith who will be keen to contribute on that front too.
However, historically and as we’ve seen from recent IPL matches, PBKS bowlers have struggled against this CSK batting line-up. Even seasoned pros such as Mohammed Shami have some really very poor head to head stats vs the Super Kings. The below shows Shami’s cumulative head to head record vs the CSK top 7 as it was from their opening match of IPL 2021
As noted above, CSK did well to rebuild after a poor powerplay only to then lose a clutch of wickets in the middle order that delayed their final push by a couple of overs. When that surge at the death did come, we saw some excellent hitting from the men in yellow and in particular Sam Curran and with Shardul Thakar carded to bat at number 10 for them in their first game of IPL 2021 it goes without saying that they do have the depth to put up some really big numbers if they can get it right at the top of the innings and prevent mini collapses in the middle overs.
Variety could then be the key issue for the PBKS bowling attack particularly considering CSK’s abundance of left-handers in the middle order. Both Moeen Ali and Suresh Raina have favourable records against right-arm fast medium bowling compared to left-armers and of course PBKS don’t really have a finger spinner who could come in and do a job against the south paws unless they opt to use Deepak Hooda, a man who has taken just 7 wickets in his previous 69 IPL outings.
| vs RFM | vs LFM | vs RFS | |
| Moeen Ali | 44.3 | 14.0 | 10.5 |
| Suresh Raina | 39.8 | 35.3 | 35.0 |
CSK bowling vs PBKS batting
As noted above, CSK must be tempted to bring in a little more firepower and mystery to their bowling attack. A handful of medium fast bowlers and a couple of finger spinners just isn’t going to cut it in this league and particularly on what appears to be a batting paradise at the Wankhede Stadium.
The good new for CSK as we preview their match against PBKS is that they do have bowlers on the bench who could add to their options and who have favourable head to head record in the IPL against the Kings.
Karn Sharma has 3 IPL titles to his name but seems to be something of a forgotten man at CSK. Given the record of spinners at the Wankhede in the 2 opening matches, it’d be a risk to play him but if the history of T20 cricket has taught us one thing it is that wrist spin gets wickets and in that regard Sharma has an excellent combined record against 2 of PBKS’s heroes from the first game in Deepak Hooda and Chris Gayle (both dismissed twice)
Similarly, if CSK are looking for more firepower in the opening overs then surely Ngidi will come back into contention following the completition of his quarantine period. His head to head record against this much vaunted PBKS top 3 is very impressive and if CSK can get early breakthroughs it will put pressure on the middle order especially with the length of the PBKS tail to come.
Meanwhile, KL Rahul is fast approaching 100 runs against CSK’s main powerplay bowler Deepak Chahar without Chahar claiming a wicket in reply. Again, evidence that CSK may need to rethink their plans following the hammering they received by DC.
And it’s tempting to question how effective Ravi Jadeja will be in the middle overs against the likes of Chris Gayle and his fellow left-handed West Indian Nicolas Pooran. As Jadeja’s head to head record vs Gayle shows, bowling into that very big arc of his is only asking for trouble!
