DC vs CSK: Chennai aim for qualification, DC look to end season on a high

A determined Chennai Super Kings unit wouldnt mind being masters of its own fate in its bid to steamroll the already ousted Delhi Capitals who are looking to end a forgettable IPL campaign on a high in a final league game here on SaturdayAt the moment CSK are on second on the points table with 15 points from 13 games But a loss against DC along with a string of unfavourable results could see the fourtime champions miss out on the last leg of IPL actionA win would however confirm a playoff spot but whether they finish in second place or third would depend on the Lucknow Super Giants result against Kolkata Knight Riders later in the dayCSK have a better net run rate of 0381 than LSGs 0304 who are also on 15 pointsThe slow nature of Feroz Shah Kotla track will suit CSKs gameplan and Mahendra Singh Dhoni in all likelihood playing his last competitive game in the National Capital will like to make full use of the conditions against an outofsorts teamBatting has been CSKs strong suit Devon Conway Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ajinkya Rahane have provided solid starts but CSK need the likes of Ambati Rayudu Ravindra Jadeja and Moeen Ali to complement Shivam Dube better in the middle oversDhoni has managed some cameos in the far end of the innings and the skipper is expected to continue doing so despite calls of him coming up the orderOn the bowling front Tushar Deshpande has been expensive but he gets breakthroughs while young pacer Matheesha Pathirana has been doing a good jobThe spin trio of Jadeja Moeen and Maheesh Theekshana has also been effective in stemming the flow of runsBut standing in CSKs way is an unpredictable Delhi sideAfter a miserable first half where they lost five games on the trot the Capitals did manage to pick up some momentum winning five out of their next eight games but it came too late in the competitionThey are out of the reckoning but head into the contest on the back of their first 200 plus scores and a morale boosting 15run win over Punjab Kings all but ending their chances of qualificationCome Saturday David Warner and Co would like to play the proverbial partypoopers once again by ending their IPL season with a win at homeBut Delhi hasnt fared well at home with skipper Warner conceding their batting unit has struggled to figure out what the best total is at the Feroz Shah Kotla this season because of slow and inconsistent pitchesApart from a few cameos by Axar Patel Delhis Indian batting lineup has failed miserably this seasonPrithvi Shaw has perhaps been the biggest letdown along with veteran Manish Pandey who is into his 16th IPL seasonAfter a string of underwhelming performances he was forced to warm the bench But the opener came back and scored his maiden halfcentury of the season and would want another good knockWarner has mostly carried the Delhi batting with the likes of Mitchell Marsh Phil Salt and Rilee Rossouw showcasing their batting prowess in some gamesThe bowling unit has eked out most of Delhis wins with the spin duo of Axar and Kuldeep Yadav doing a remarkable jobOld warhorse Ishant Sharma has been invaluable handed the ball in crunch situations the veteran pacer kept his calm won the matches against Gujarat Titans and Punjab However he hasnt provided too many breakthroughs despite being accurate on most occasionsAfter leaking runs in the initial games Anrich Nortje has also found his groove while Khaleel Ahmed has also been impactful on occasions and profligate at other timesDelhis fielding against Punjab was atrocious dropping as many as four catches that almost cost them the match Come Saturday the hosts will need to put up a much better displayTeams FromDelhi Capitals David Warner c Prithvi Shaw Mitchell Marsh Sarfaraz Khan Aman Hakim Khan Abhishek Porel wk Axar Patel Khaleel Ahmed Kuldeep Yadav Rovman Powell Rilee Rossouw Anrich Nortje Mustafizur Rahaman Chetan Sakariya Mukesh Kumar Phil Salt Lungi Ngidi Praveen Dubey Lalit Yadav Ripal Patel Vicky Ostwal Ishant Sharma Manish Pandey Yash Dhull Priyam GargChennai Super Kings MS Dhoni c amp wk Akash Singh Moeen Ali Bhagath Varma Deepak Chahar Devon Conway Tushar Deshpande Shivam Dube Ruturaj Gaikwad Rajvardhan Hangargekar Ravindra Jadeja Sisanda Magala Ajay Mandal Matheesha Pathirana Dwaine Pretorius Ajinkya Rahane Shaik Rasheed Ambati Rayudu Mitchell Santner Subhranshu Senapati Simarjeet Singh Nishant Sindhu Prashant Solanki Ben Stokes Maheesh TheekshanaMatch starts at 330 pm ISTAlso Read IPL Playoffs What does LSGs win over MI mean for CSK RCB RR KKR and PBKSThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever