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Though Chennai are parched at the top of the table quite comfortably, Rajasthan are breathing down their neck with some sterling performances. Chennai, after winning 7 games in a row, faced a rude wakeup call against Mumbai & shrugged that off with a huge win against Hyderabad. But the loss against Rajasthan would be quite alarming, especially with their bowling form. The Chennai bowlers started off really well having the Rajasthan batsmen tottering at 4/45 in 9 overs, but the momentum shifted with that one over from Ashwin, which went for 23 runs. Rajasthan went to win that match, but Chennai have a lot of serious thinking to do, if they need to maintain the tags of the most consistent team in this format of the game. Their batting didn’t really click on a very good batting surface at the awai Man Singh stadium. With such a strong batting unit, which bats till number 10, the batmen coming at the top could be plagued by an aorta of complacency, which could prove to be really sticky for this champion side. They can’t afford any slip ups, towards the business end of the tournament. Chennai can still mathematically be ousted off the playoffs, but that would be the last thing in their minds. Their next task in hand is the game against a listless Delhi unit in Chennai. Chennai would derive a lot of confidence from the previous encounter where dished out a 86 run thrashing for the Delhi team. With having got 20 points in their tally, one more win will certainly cement their position among the top 2 in the points table. Chennai would want to rule out any complacency against Delhi, especially when these 2 points matter a lot even at this stage for the table toppers. Delhi has had a few positives in the last few games, inspite of being out of the playoiffs race. This season has been a shocker for the table toppers in the previous season. The absence of Kevin Pieterson & the lack of form from their key players such as Sehwag, Jayawardena & Morne Morkel has hurt them big time. Their Indian pool, though talented, hasn’t really been able to produce something substantial. They lost almost all of their home games, and have lost 3 games on the trot leading upto this game in Chennai. Their opponents have the capability to decimate any side on their given day, and Delhi will be hoping to put up a fight unlike the last time they met. They were dealt rudely in their home game against Chennai when they were bundled out for a meager 83. Apart from David Warner, the batting hasn’t had much to offer. With Jayawardena not available for the Chennai match; David Warner will be keen on making the most of his captaincy opportunity. Even in their previous game, they almost came close to chasing down 183 made by Bangalore but faltered by 4 runs. That’s been the story of their season so far, where they have thrown the games away from winning positions. Delhi will look to make a few changes to their side to test their bench strength in a dead rubber for them. Recent form Chennai – LWLWW Delhi – LLLWW |