Chennai, India

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will be looking to snap their losing streak against the mighty Kolkata Knight Riders (KRR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on April 8. CSK will have the home advantage but they'd need more than that to stop the KKR juggernaut. Knight Riders, notably, are the only unbeaten team in the tournament apart from Rajasthan Royals (RR).

Advertisment

Chennai, on the other hand, have lost two back-to-back games after winning their first two. They won their opening game against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) by six wickets before beating Gujarat Titans (GT) by 63 runs. In the next two matches, CSK were beaten by Delhi Capitals (DC) and SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH).

Also Read: MI secure first win of campaign as DC’s miserable run continues

KKR, however, have been on a roll with three consecutive wins. After narrowly defeating SRH in their first match of the season by four runs, they were dominant in their next two games. KKR beat RCB by seven wickets for their second win before inflicting a huge 106-run defeat on DC.

Advertisment

The reason for KKR's success has been their opening partnership with all-rounder Sunil Narine acing his pinch-hitter role as one of the openers. After scoring just two runs in his first match, Narine went on to score 47 off 22 and 85 off 39 in the next two games to give KKR a flyer of a start. With Andre Russell also in form lower down the order, KKR's batting order is the envy of the league.

For CSK, their newly-appointed skipper and opener Ruturaj Gaikwad's form is a cause of concern. Gaikwad has gotten the starts, albeit slow ones, but hasn't been able to stay long to make up for them. Apart from Shivam Dube, no middle-order batter has been able to leave an impact.

CSK would need to fire all cylinders if they hope to win against KKR.