Match details
Punjab Kings (seventh) vs Chennai Super Kings (fifth)
Dharamsala, 1530 IST (1000 GMT)
Big picture - Can PBKS make it six in a row?
In IPL history, only two teams have beaten CSK in five consecutive meetings. One is, predictably, Mumbai Indians. The other is PBKS, who started their streak in 2021 and equalled MI's on Wednesday with a seven-wicket win at Chepauk.
On Sunday, they will be looking to make it six in a row as they take on CSK in Dharamsala, their second home ground. Playing at home, though, has not been fruitful for PBKS this season; they won just one out of five games in Mullanpur, their main home ground. They will be hoping that a change in the venue brings a change in fortunes and they can stay properly in the playoffs race.
CSK are much more comfortably placed, but as the tournament has progressed, their form has tapered off. They started the season with wins over Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Gujarat Titans. But in their last four games, including three at home, they have just one win.
Ruturaj Gaikwad's wretched luck with the toss has not helped them either. He has lost nine out of ten tosses so far, and five on the trot. But CSK fans will have happy memories of Dharamsala. In 2010, CSK needed 16 in the final over against Kings XI Punjab, as they were known then, and MS Dhoni hit Irfan Pathan for back-to-back sixes to win the match with two balls to spare. In a rare show of emotions, he punched his helmet in celebration, thus giving the tournament one of its iconic moments.
Form guide
Punjab Kings WWLLL (last five matches, most recent first)
Chennai Super Kings LWLLW
Previous meeting
After opting to bowl, PBKS restricted CSK to 162 for 7, with Kagiso Rabada, Harpreet Brar and Rahul Chahar going at less than run a ball. Jonny Bairstow and Rilee Rossouw led the chase and took PBKS home with 2.1 overs to spare.
Team news and impact player strategy
Punjab Kings
Shikhar Dhawan is not fully fit yet. PBKS spin-bowling coach Sunil Joshi hoped he would be ready for the last two games. Joshi also said that they wanted to retain the winning combination. Prabhsimran Singh and Arshdeep Singh are expected to be their Impact Player options once again.
Probable XII 1 Prabhsimran Singh, 2 Jonny Bairstow, 3 Rilee Rossouw, 4 Shashank Singh, 5 Sam Curran (capt), 6 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 7 Ashutosh Sharma, 8 Harpreet Brar, 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Arshdeep Singh, 12 Rahul Chahar
Chennai Super Kings
Tushar Deshpande, who missed the previous game with flu, is expected to be available, but with Deepak Chahar injured and Mustafizur Rahaman having gone back to Bangladesh for national duty, CSK will have to rejig their bowling combination. One of Maheesh Theekshana and Mitchell Santner is likely to come in, while Mukesh Choudhary could get his second game of the season. Ajinkya Rahane and Choudhary could be their options for Impact Player.
Probable XII 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), 3 Daryl Mitchell, 4 Shivam Dube, 5 Moeen Ali, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 MS Dhoni (wk), 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Tushar Deshpande, 10 Maheesh Theekshana, 11 Matheesha Pathirana, 12 Mukesh Choudhary
In the spotlight - Harpreet Brar and Shivam Dube
Harpreet Brar has only six wickets in ten games, but his economy rate has been an excellent 7.21. Among those who have bowled at least 100 balls this season, only Jasprit Bumrah (6.25), Sunil Narine (6.72) and Krunal Pandya (7.20) have better economy rates. When PBKS faced CSK earlier in the week, Brar was the Player of the Match for his figures of 2 for 17, which included dismissing Shivam Dube for a first-ball duck.
That Shivam Dube wicket was crucial because he has been CSK's engine room in the middle overs. In all, he has 350 runs at an average of 50.00 and a strike rate of 171.56 this season; Gaikwad is the only other CSK batter to cross 200. Given both PBKS spinners - Brar and Rahul Chahar - turn the ball into Dube, if gets set, it may not be easy to stop him.
Stats that matter
Dhoni has a strike rate of 45.45 against Rabada (10 runs off 22 balls, one dismissal), 55.88 against Rahul Chahar (19 off 34, two dismissals) and 78.12 against Harshal Patel (25 off 32, two dismissals). He has fared much better against Sam Curran and Arshdeep Singh, taking 38 off 17 balls against Curran and 20 off 14 balls against Arshdeep. Neither bowler has been able to dismiss him yet.
Daryl Mitchell has taken Arshdeep for 43 runs in 19 balls while getting out only once.
Rabada has kept Gaikwad quiet: 63 runs off 59 balls, three dismissals. Arshdeep, too, has a good record against Gaikwad: 55 runs off 44 balls, three dismissals.
Bairstow has a strike rate of 185.71 against Moeen Ali (39 runs off 21 balls, no dismissal) and 170.00 against Shardul Thakur (51 off 30, one dismissal). But he has found it difficult to score against Ravindra Jadeja: 36 off 31 at a strike rate of 116.12 (one dismissal).
Pitch and conditions
Dharamsala has hosted only two T20s in the last seven years and both have been high-scoring - well, as per pre-IPL 2024 standards. The last time PBKS played here, in 2023, Rossouw was in the opposition and scored 82 not out off 37 balls as Delhi Capitals posted 213 for 2 and won by 15 runs. It's an afternoon game, and the temperature is expected to be around 27°C.
