Preview CSK vs SRH IPL 2021, Match 23, April 28th, Arun Jaitley Stadium. CSK vs SRH head to head player stats and records. Team news and match predictions for CSK vs SRH.
Key match stats CSK vs SRH preview
Venue Stats – Arun Jaitley Stadium
- Average first innings: 163
- Average first innings winning score: 180
- Average powerplay score: 48
- All-time win % batting 1st vs batting 2nd: 49% / 50%
Find full venue stats and records here
Team form CSK vs SRH preview
- CSK – WWWWL
- SRH – LWLLL
- Recent meetings: IPL 2020, SRH won by 7 runs, CSK won by 20 runs
CSK vs SRH preview
Today’s preview of CSK vs SRH sees our first fixture of IPL 2021 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. SRH will be hoping that the change in venue will result in a shift in fortune as they come away from Chennai with just a solitary victory from their opening 5 matches, while for CSK the opposite is true, with the men in yellow coming off a 4 match winning streak in Mumbai. Such polar opposites form wise makes this a game of top vs bottom.
In our preview of IPL 2021 we had SRH down as one of the teams to watch out for but thus far they’ve been disappointing. They are usually a team that puts up excellent defensive stats with ball in hand but the Sunrisers have been off the boil in that regard and problems with their middle and lower order continue to persist. Ultimately their selection policy has also left a lot of people scratching their head with a continual chopping and changing of the playing XI suggesting that pre-tournament planning was either non-existent or quickly abandoned. There is still plenty of match winning quality in the SRH squad but it is a case of now or never if the Sunrisers want to continue their excellent record of qualifying for the playoffs.
As for CSK, they come into the match off the high of handing out a thrashing to RCB on Sunday with Ravi Jadeja putting in what many would argue is the single greatest all-round performance in the history of the IPL. Pre-tournament, Head Coach Stephen Flemming spoke about how he was looking forward to reinventing this CSK team from a side that has traditionally been good at grinding out results in home conditions to one that can compete in the neutral venues they’ve been forced to play at over the last couple of seasons. The end result is that CSK have now become arguably the most watchable team in IPL 2021!
CSK vs SRH head to head stats
CSK bowling vs SRH batting
As noted above, CSK have transformed themselves from an essentially defensive team into an attacking one for this season but that does leave them a little vulnerable in the bowling stakes at both ends of the innings.
As we can see from graph below, their bowling economy rate in the powerplay of 8.2 is higher than any other team. This stat is even more significant when you consider that CSK have played all 5 games to date at the Wankhede where powerplay scores in general have been lower than for those teams playing in Chennai.
For SRH, given their strength at the top of the order this is an area which they need to exploit if they are to win this match. As we’ve seen for the last few IPL seasons, at least one of Warner, Bairstow and Williamson will need to come off if the Sunrisers are to post a competitive total.
In regards the SRH top 3, David Warner knows this venue well from his time with the Delhi Daredevils but his overall record at the Arun Jaitely is not particularly strong when compared to the high standards he’s set across his IPL career.
Meanwhile the likes of Bairstow (ave 48), Williamson (ave 107) and Pandey (ave 46) have all enjoyed previous visits to Delhi. In regards, Manish Pandey you would imagine that he will be recalled to the squad for this game. It was understandable that SRH wanted to introduce some left-handers into their middle order particularly on the slower decks in Chennai but Virat Singh looked woefully out of his depth at this level and in a tight game against The Capitals his scratchy innings ultimately cost them a win.
Head to head wise and to further highlight the importance of the powerplay mentioned above, CSK’s star performer with the ball has been Deepak Chahar with the swing on offer at the Wankhede making him a dangerous proposition. To date he has taken just 2 wickets from 2 IPL games at the Arun Jaitley Stadium and his head to head stats against the SRH top 3 show that while he’s been economical, he’s lacked penetration.
SRH bowling vs CSK batting
While a lot of attention will go to the finish that CSK achieved with the bat in their last match, it’s worth noting how good their opening pair have been in recent games. Du Plessis and Gaikwand started IPL 2021 slowly but have gradually been building up form and runs to get a strong looking CSK batting unit off to excellent starts. Moeen Ali missed the game against RCB with a slight niggle and given the performance of the team on Sunday he might suddenly find it difficult to win his place back despite his excellent form at number 3!
If Suresh Raina does continue at number 3 then CSK at least have a very experienced player who has enjoyed batting at this venue in the past. As the endless TV highlights continue to show, Raina doesn’t like the short ball but the Arun Jaitely pitch is unlikely to be particularly quick and the SRH bowling attack lacks anyone to really unsettled the left-hander.
In the head to head stakes, there is also a fun bit of by-play in the all-time IPL run scorers charts with Raina currently holding onto 2nd place but being closed down by 3 opening batsmen in Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and his opponent in today’s match David Warner. Who will be number 2 by the end of the end of IPL 2021?
While CSK have been brilliant at the death all season as shown in the graph above by their superior run rate during the last 5 overs, I do wonder what role Dhoni has in this Super Kings batting unit? The captain and great finisher has faced 47% dot balls in IPL 2021 and his promotion up the order is starving opportunities for the likes of Sam Curran and Dwayne Bravo both of who are scoring at a strike rate of over 200 at the death. If we look at his head to head stats vs SRH we see that he’s been brilliant against Buvi, one of the best IPL death bowlers of all time, but is he capable of delivering those kind of performances anymore?
All IPL player head to head records can be found here
