IPL 2022 CSK vs DC Preview - Are the Capitals set to peak at the right time for once?

Key match stats CSK vs DC

Pitch Stats – DY Patil Stadium

Average first innings score: 168
Average first innings winning score: 185
Average powerplay score: 44
Win % batting 1st vs batting 2nd: 40% / 60%

Team form CSK vs DC
CSK – LWLWL
DC – WLWLW
Recent meetings: IPL 2021 - CSK by 4 wickets, DC by 3 wickets, DC by 7 wickets

CSK vs DC Preview

Talking to a friend about our late season predictions for who was going to win the IPL this season, I picked Delhi Capitals as the side to make a late run to the playoffs and possibly peak at the right time to deliver what would be their first and long awaited title.

The Capitals have been the most consistent franchise over the last few seasons but have always found themselves coming up short in the knockout stages. Indeed, it was today's opponents CSK who ended their chances last year with a 4 wicket win in the eliminator despite the fact that DC had beaten them twice in the round robin phases of the 2021 tournament not to mention twice the season before that too!

Team	Round Robin Wins	Playoff Win %
DC	32	27%
MI	27	100%
CSK	27	60%
RCB	27	0%
KKR	24	67%
PBKS	23	n/a
RR	23	n/a
SRH	21	33%

Since the start of 2019 IPL, DC have won 5 more round robin games than any other team but achieved victory in just 2 out of their 6 playoff matches in the same period

So far the Capitals have had a very stop start kind of a season but there are good signs that they are warming up just when it really matters!

David Warner is the form batsmen in the 2nd half of the IPL, Rovman Powell is starting to deliver match changing innings and the return of Anrich Nortje provides the DC attack with the only thing it's really been missing so far this year in raw pace.

There are still a couple of concerns in particular the fitness of Axar Patel who despite having had a fairly limited impact with the ball this season would be ideally suited for this DY Patil pitch and perhaps a few others as the season draws on and the wickets become drier.

Then there was the exclusion of Prithvi Shaw from the XI that beat Sunrisers during the week with no real explanation of his absence provided. It wouldn't be the first time that Prithvi has drawn the ire of coach Ricky Ponting for being a reluctant trainer but given the impact that he and Warner have had during the powerplay this year, DC fans will surely be keen to see him reinstated as soon as possible.

As for CSK, mathematically they still have a chance of qualifying for the playoffs if they win all their games but my feeling is still very much that sides will need 8 wins to get to 4th place and that is already beyond them.

After getting themselves into good positions against RCB, they somewhat self-destructed with both bat and ball allowing Bangalore to score late runs in their innings and then losing wickets in clusters despite Conway and Gaikwad once again putting on a good opening stand.

However, the DY Patil is a venue that Chennai have looked pretty good at this season culminating in victories in their last 2 matches here while for DC it's a case of played 1, lost 1 in Navi Mumbai.

CSK certainly still have the ability to throw a massive spanner into the works for the Capitals not to mention a couple of other teams, even if the defending champions season is essentially already over...

CSK vs DC head to head

DC bowling vs CSK batting

It's too little, too late for CSK as their top order finally begins to deliver the base that was needed for them to successfully defend their title.

However, DC will need to be at their best to combat the threat of Conway and Gaikwad particularly considering their lack of wickets this year in the powerplay.

Team	Wickets Taken in the Powerplay
RCB	11
DC	13
MI	14

Least wickets taken in the powerplay in IPL 2022

If CSK can once again lay a decent platform then we've already seen that their batsmen enjoy scoring big on this pitch with their total of 216 the highest so far at the DY Patil Stadium in IPL 2022.

They also boast Robin Utthappa who holds the record for most runs scored in the IPL here at Navi Mumbai.

IPL records DY Patil Stadium - Most runs Robin Uthappa

Given the lack of penetration upfront, the achievements of Kuldeep Yadav this year are even more remarkable as he returns to the kind of form that made him one of the most feared white ball bowlers in world cricket.

Today he'll be up against a couple of players who have scored heavily off him in previous meetings but that was then and this is now and the left-armer might fancy settling a few old scores here today.

Kuldeep Yadav vs Moeen Ali T20 head to head

Moeen's role is of course to take on all spinners but he seems to have taken particular delight in belting Kuldeep to all parts in previous meetings.

CSK bowling vs DC batting

I've already given a couple of examples this season of batsmen nearing the 100 run mark against specific bowlers without ever having been dismissed so here's another...

Jadeja vs Warner T20 head to head

Of course getting Warner out early would be a massive bonus for CSK with the Australian already having hit 4 half-centuries from 8 innings in this year's IPL at an average of 56 and strike rate of 156!

Death bowling has always been regarded as a strength for CSK but since losing Dwayne Bravo, the team have been leaking 10 runs an over for for the final 10 overs of both their matches against RCB and SRH.

As alluded to above, Rovman Powell is finally hitting his straps after a decidedly shaky start to life in the IPL and CSK will need to come up with some plans to limit his impact in the second half of the innings.

Bravo vs Powell T20 head to head

In previous matches, Bravo has been the man to do that and it wouldn't be surprising to see him return to the side for this game assuming that he has overcome his "niggle".

All stats used in this blog are from my own database which is freely accessible at T20 head to head. Images are my own with the exception of player profiles and background images which are used under a creative commons license or otherwise royalty free