CSK hope to regain top spot

Despite a convincing eight-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals, Kochi Tuskers Kerala will find it difficult to unsettle the Chennai Super Kings, when they clash in an IPL tie  at the MA Chidambaram stadium on Wednesday.This being Kochi’s last league game they will be desperate for a win in order to have a upper hand in case there is a tie for the fourth place playoffs. But their wish is unlikely to come true, as Super Kings have enjoyed an unbeaten record at Chepauk, with six wins in as many games.

CSK’s understanding of the conditions and the excellent crowd support has helped Dhoni and Co give their best. Even in the Delhi Daredevils match when it was announced in advance that Sehwag will not play due to injury, the crowd turned up in large numbers to cheer CSK. This show of interest has compelled the likes of Albie Morkel and Doug Bollinger to go that extra mile and give their best. Since CSK have one more game they are unlikely to go in for any experiments and would play a full squad.CSK have 16 points from 12 games, while Kochi have 12 from 13 matches. The last time the two met at Kerala, Kochi won by 7 wickets (with 12 balls remaining under D/L method). The D/L method did not go well with CSK, with their captain MS Dhoni and coach Stephen Fleming openly voicing their dissatisfaction over the method. It is sort of revenge match for CSK. A victory over Kochi will put them back on top of the table.Kochi will badly miss the services of captain Mahela Jayawardene, who has returned to  Lanka for national duty. Parthiv Patel, who will lead in his absence, has a tough job ahead. Not only will he have to keep the flock together but will be under pressure to register a win to have a numerical chance of making the play-offs.Jayawardene’s loss is huge because of his  class and ability to pace his innings as per team requirement.Kochi will once again depend heavily on opener Brendon McCullum, the new captain Parthiv and Brad Hodge to put up a decent total. Parthiv indicated that he may be tempted to include another spinner.Their bowling depends mainly on crafty Rudra Pratap Singh, experienced all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. Medium pacer Prasanth Parameswaran has come good, while Shanthakumaran Sreesanth has been inconsistent. Hodge with his slow bowling has troubled the batsmen. If Kochi can restrict Super Kings to 120   they have a good chance of winning the match.On the other hand, CSK will field the same team that won here last time. All their batsmen be it Murali Vijay, Mike Hussey, Suresh Raina, Subramaniam Badrinath and captain MS Dhoni are in great form. Their bowling has the tendency to be wary at times. A little bit of tightening is required but the experience Bollinger and Morkel brings with them, it should not be a cause for concern.The Chepauk wicket once again looks pretty good and promises full of runs.