Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Chennai Super Kings Prediction

CSK Team News

Chennai Super Kings' biggest selection decision ahead of the play-offs appears to be which combination of their overseas players to opt for. Faf du Plessis was given the nod ahead of Shane Watson for the final group game, but the South African scored just 14 in what was just his fourth appearance of this year's competition. It seems likely Watson will replace him at the top of the order therefore, having scored 438 runs in his 13 matches - including one century and two 50s - at a strike rate of 147.47. He struggled in the defeat to Delhi Daredevils but has generally been in excellent form.

Sam Billings is posing another headache for Chennai Super Kings, after scoring one and zero in his last two innings. He has only reached double figures twice in his last eight matches, though in the first of those he did go on to score 56. It could be that the Englishman misses out, and Du Plessis and Watson both play - in which case the impressive Ambati Rayudu may be asked to drop down to number three or four. The other overseas spots should be taken by West Indian all-rounder Dwayne Bravo and in-form opening bowler Lungi Ngidi. The latter will expect some assistance from the Mumbai pitch as he bids to follow up his match-winning 4-10 (including one maiden) from the last match.

CSK Key Players

Ambati Rayudu has been one of the leading batsmen in the IPL 2018 season with 586 runs from 14 innings, including an unbeaten century - his first T20 hundred - when Chennai last faced Sunrisers Hyderabad. He is fourth in the run-scoring list for this year's competition, and alongside his 100 in the defeat of Sunrisers in Pune, he also scored 79 in the win in Deccan earlier in the year. 

Chennai's strength has been their batting depth, too, with MS Dhoni averaging 89.20 from his 14 innings so far thanks to his useful knocks at the end of innings. The captain has scored 446 runs and has only been dismissed five times so far - scoring three half-centuries and passing 30 on several other occasions. Shane Watson, meanwhile, is just eight runs behind Dhoni on 438 runs so far. He scored a century to announce his return to form earlier in the tournament. Suresh Raina has contributed 391 runs, meanwhile, including an unbeaten 61 from 48 balls as Chennai won their final group game.

With the ball, Lungi Ngidi has been in outstanding form - his last seven overs have cost just 24 runs as he picked up 2/14 against Delhi Daredevils and 4/10 against Kings XI Punjab. He has nine wickets in total from five matches, and an outstanding economy rate of just 6.11. Shardal Thakur has been their leading wicket taker, however, with 14 from 11 matches. 

CSK Form in IPL 2018

After a brilliant start to the tournament, on their return from a two-year ban, which saw Chennai win five of their first six matches, they have been inconsistent since - failing to win back-to-back games since. Their IPL 2018 started with a series of thrilling finishes - they beat Mumbai by one wicket with one ball to spare in the opening game, and then chased down Kolkata's 202 with one ball remaining again in their next match.

Kings XI Punjab halted their charge, winning by four runs in the third game, before Watson's century helped Chennai Super Kings beat Rajasthan Royals by 64 runs to get back to winning ways. Back-to-back victories, with Ambati Rayudu in superb batting form, followed against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Since then, however, they have not won consecutive matches as mentioned. Their total of 169/5 was not enough to beat Mumbai Indians, but they scored 211/4 in a 13-run win against Delhi Daredevils the following week. They then failed to defend 177/5 against Kolkata, but bounced back thanks to some superb bowling as they beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets. Jos Buttler's inspired form was too much for them next up, however, as they could not defend 176/4 against Rajasthan Royals.

They have won two of their final three matches, however, including an eight-wicket defeat of Sunrisers Hyderabad when these two teams last met. Ambati Rayudu’s unbeaten century fired them to victory. Rayudu scored a half-century in the next match, but – despite Lungi Ngidi having claimed 2/14 with the ball, Chennai struggled to 128/6 in a 34-run defeat to Delhi Daredevils. They beat Kings XI Punjab last up, however, with Ngidi claiming a superb 4/10 before Suresh Raina’s unbeaten 61 helped them to chase down 154 to win in 19.1 overs – Raina hit two sixes and two fours in the penultimate over, before Dhoni hit the match-winning maximum.