PBKS wins toss, to bowl first against CSK

Chennai, May 1 (UNI) Punjab Kings (PBKS) won the toss and decided to

bowl first in the IPL match against home favourites and five-time winners Chennai

Super Kings (CSK) at the packed holiday crowd at Chepauk Stadium here on

Wednesday night.

With centuries galore and scores in excess of 200, 250-plus being the norm so far,

one interesting fact is PBKS is the only team that has conceded 200-plus total only

once in this edition.

PBKS, which is fresh from surmounting the highest successful chase in T20 history

and has a 4-0 record against CSK in its last four matches, retains the same team.

CSK, eyeing for a record sixth title, made two changes, with pacers Matheesha

Pathirana (slight niggle) and Tushar Desphande (unwell) missing out. They were

replaced by Sharadul Thakur and England's fast bowler Richard James Gleeson,

who will be making his debut.

With 10 points in nine matches (5 wins and 4 losses) CSK, placed fourth in the points

table after winning the four of the five home matches and an away match, will move to

third spot on better net run rate if it wins against PBKS, which has been languishing

in the eighth slot with six points in nine matches.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (5 wins in 9 matches) and Delhi Capitals (5 wins in 11 matches),

with ten points each (placed 5th and 6th respectively in the points table) were on level

with CSK, which was placed higher by virtue of its better net run rate.

A win will also help CSK further consolidate its position for a place in the play-offs,

while a victory for PBKS will open up the points table, setting up an interesting race

for the play offs.

Rajasthan Royals tops the table with 16 points (8 wins in 9 matches), followed by

Kolkata Knight Riders 12 points (6 wins in 9 matches) and Lucknow Super giants

12 points (6 wins in 10 matches).

This is the sixth home match for CSK.

This will be Bangladeshi left arm seamer Mustafizur Rahman's last game with CSK

as he will be returning home for national duty. He started this year's edition with a

bang claiming four wickets in the first match and won the man-of-the-match award.

He was ranked second in the purple cap chart with 14 wickets.

Jasprit Bumrah (MI) tops the table with 14 wickets. Mustafizur Rahman and Harshal

Patel with 14 wickets each, was ranked 2nd and 3rd, followed by CSK sling bowler

Matheesha Pathirana(CSK) with 13 wickets.

Four other bowlers with 13 wickets apiece were in the next four spots.

Teams :

CSK :

Ajinkya Rahane, Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), Daryl Mitchell, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube,

Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wk), Deepak Chahar, Sharadul Thakur, Mustafizur

Rahman, Richard James Gleeson.

PBKS :

Sam Curran (capt), Jonny Bairstow, Rilee Rossouw, Jitesh Sharma, Shashank

Singh, Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Harshal Patel Kasigo

Rabada, Arshdeep Singh.

UNI GV 1910