IPL 2023: CSK eye third win on the trot against struggling KKR at Eden

CSK’s Devon Conway during the match v SRH on Friday. Pic/PTI

Doubts rising from the smouldering embers of three consecutive defeats threaten to cloud the confidence that Kolkata Knight Riders had gathered in the wake of Rinku Singh's heroics and their other highs in IPL-16. It's not a good space to be in when a marauding Chennai Super Kings under MS Dhoni come calling. Sunday's showdown at the Eden Gardens seems a mismatch, and the first task upon KKR, languishing near the bottom of the league ladder, is to cross that mental barrier. It doesn't help that the Super Kings will take the field flush from Friday's seven-wicket victory over Sunrisers.

In a format where ‘well begun is half done' acquires a whole new meaning, Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad present an ominous opening pair. The South African born Kiwi is in a rich vein of form and Gaikwad too has been contributing handsomely. Veteran Ajinkya Rahane, brought in after CSK's first couple of matches, has the second wind on his sail, scoring big and at a scorching pace. With big-hitters Dhoni, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja in the mix, it presents a daunting prospect.

It was, however, Jadeja's bowling that put a spanner in Sunrisers's hopes of setting a challenging target in Chennai. With Moeen and Sri Lankan Maheesh Theekshana, the left-arm spinner is part of a potent trio. The Knights too have a spin-heavy attack, with a dash of ‘mystery' thrown in, and Sunday presents an intriguing battle of one-upmanship between the two units.

Unlike CSK, the Knights don't have the warmth of recent wins and will have to seek a chin-up in past positives. They do have two remarkable come-from-behind victories and some awe-inspiring individual performances; sometimes that's all it takes to win a T20 match.

Despite three 200-plus totals, KKR need to take a look at their batting. Missing often has been match awareness with batsmen falling to poor shot selection. While someone like Andre Russell, needs to realise that every ball cannot be hit out of the park, it should hit some of the others that an orthodox shot loaded in intent is often more effective than a ‘cute' one.

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