IPL 2021 CSK vs KKR Preview + Win HBI shares in new 6 and out contest!

Key match stats CSK vs KKR

Venue Stats – Wankhede Stadium

Average first innings score: 167
Average first innings winning score: 175
Average powerplay score: 46
All-time win % batting 1st vs batting 2nd: 47% / 52%

Team form CSK vs KKR

KKR – n/a
RCB – n/a
Recent meetings: IPL 2021, CSK won by 27 runs, CSK won by 2 wickets, CSK won by 18 runs

CSK vs KKR preview

Here we go!

First match of the new and extended IPL season and it sees last season's finalists go head to head yet again.

For KKR, last year's run to the final came despite some fairly indifferent form while CSK went from winners of the wooden spoon in 2020 to a record fourth title in 2021.

Therefore to say that the IPL is difficult to predict from season to season would be a massive understatement and of course in between that final, just 6 months ago and this match, we've gone through a mega auction that means that a large portion of both sides starting XI will be very different.

It would be fair to say that both sides benefitted in 2021 as a result of the slower pitches on offer in the UAE but the Wankhede is known more for its pace, early seam movement and high scoring. Of course, we'll have to see how that pans out across a tournament which due to Covid restrictions is once again being played across only a handful of venues.

One thing that is likely to be of benefit to both these teams no only in this opening match but also as the tournament progresses is the experience they both possess within their ranks. CSK can draw upon serial winners in the form of MS Dhoni, Ravi Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo while KKR boast players with a huge wealth of experience playing across the world in the likes of Sunil Narine, Andre Russell and Pat Cummins.

When you then throw in some of India's young and up and coming stars in the form of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Venkatesh Iyer there is reason to believe that this will not only be a high quality game but that both sides have a realistic chance of performing well again in IPL 2022.

CSK vs KKR head to head stats

KKR bowling vs CSK batting

We've made mention already of the strength that KKR posses in their spin department and you'd imagine that one of the key match-ups will be between premier slow bowlers Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy and the CSK batting order.

Even seasoned pros like MS Dhoni have struggled to come to terms with this dual threat as his record against them shows. In fact, in recent games Chakravarthy has really had the wood over the CSK captain, dismissing him 3 times in his last 12 deliveries faced. Narine meanwhile has conceeded just 35 runs from the 66 balls he's bowled at one of India's modern greats, the kind of figures you'd expect in a Test Match!

In fact, Narine's record at the Wankhede full stop is very strong with 11 wickets on previous visits at an average of just 22.5, S/R 19.3 and economy a shade under 7 an over.

Both these bowlers could operate in the powerplay but in recent seasons it's been the pace bowlers who have had the greatest impact early on with the Wankhede pitch generally offering a bit of movement while the ball is hard. In that case, KKR could look to utilise the likes of Pat Cummins and Shivam Mavi (he took 1 for 19 from 4 overs on his last visit here) or even go for a specialist new ball option in Tim Southee.

Such a play could also prove beneficial against CSK's top order who generally enjoy pace off the ball early on in their innings as demonstrated in the stats below

Both Gaikwad and Conway have significantly better records against spin while the field restrictions are in place

In fact, while young Gaikwad enjoyed himself on most of the surfaces in the UAE, his record at a few of his home grounds is less impressive with 1 half century from 5 innings and an average of just 23.4, S/R 112.5 at the Wankhede itself.

Two men who helped CSK secure their 4th title last year and who have excellent records at the Wankhede won't be available for them for this game. Faf du Plessis averages 44 at this venue but has since moved onto RCB while Moeen Ali is set to miss the season opener at a ground where he averages 33 at a strike rate of 151.

CSK bowling vs KKR batting

The form and fitness of Andre Russell may well be crucial to KKR's chances of a repeat visit to the play offs this season.

The big West Indian has been fairly subdued over the last couple of seasons but his numbers against several of the CSK bowlers are encouraging including his head to head match-up with fellow West Indian Dwayne Bravo whom he has played a lot of cricket with and against.

Another key battle that KKR will hope to come out on top of is against Ravi Jadeja whose performances in all forms of cricket have hit new levels over the last couple of years.

The good news for KKR is that both Nitish Rana and Shreyas Iyer have impressive records against Jadeja and without the wicket taking abilities of Chahar in the powerplay not to mention the loss of Moeen Ali's off-spin, at least for the first game of the tournament, then you fear that even Dhoni may be struggling for options in this game.

Rana is once again likely to play a floating role in the KKR batting line-up and could be used specifically to counter Jadeja's overs

As if to make matters worse, both missing CSK bowlers have fantastic records at the Wankhede with Moeen Ali having claimed 9 wickets at an average of 16.3 and Chahar 13 wickets at 18.9 on their previous visits.

By contrast, the men who might need to step up and fill the voids left by that pair, namely Adam Milne, Chris Jordan and Shivam Dube haven't taken a wicket between them on previous visits to the Wankhede and conceeded 159 runs at an economy of over 11 an over, ouch!

---

Six and Out - Play to win HBI shares and 1 million SPORTS delegation

On all my IPL match preview blogs, I'll be offering the chance for the community to win some HBI shares.

If you're not sure what an HBI share is then the easiest way to think of it is free upvotes for life from the HBI (formerly SBI) account. You can read more about HBI here.

The game is really simple and doesn't require any knowledge of cricket to play. I'm calling it 6 and out which is a rule that kids use when playing cricket in the back garden. In other words if you hit the ball over the garden fence then you're out!

In this version, you simply have to state which ball of the match you think the first 6 will be scored on. If you're uncertain about the basic rules of cricket then you can read about them on my blog here but to further simplify it

• A six is hit when the ball goes over the boundary of the playing area without touching the ground first
• There are up to 240 balls in a T20 match

In other words, I'm asking you to pick a number between 1 and 240 and write it in the comments - it's that simple!

The winner will be the person whose guess is closest. That's it!

They will get 1 share (1 HIVE) of HBI sent to their account and they'll win a point for the overall league. The winner of the overall league will get a 1 million SPORTS token delegation for 30 days.

Very basic T&Cs

I won't put these at the bottom of every post but will link back to them for any newcomers later in the tournament.

• The match in question is the one being previewed above and entries will close 5mins before the game starts
• The 6 scored must be a shot that goes over the boundary on the full i.e. it can't be made up of extras or overthrows, etc.
• I'll be using ESPNcricinfo website for the official scorecard so the info on there will determine which ball the 6 was hit on
• In the event of a tie both accounts will get an HBI share and 1 point for the league
• In the event of no 6 being scored in the match then no one wins
• 1 account, 1 entry per blog
• I reserve the right to not pay out on prizes should an account(s) be involved in any activity that damages the community including but not exclusive to plagiarism, multi-account use, farming, etc

All stats used in this blog are from my own database. Images are my own with the exception of player profiles sourced here and background images here and used under a creative commons license or otherwise royalty free