Things are bound to get interesting as the top two teams from the points table will yet again meet in the IPL final 2018. The crowd in the Wankhede stadium is expected to support CSK in numbers, just because of the one man “Mahendra Singh Dhoni- The greatest servant of Indian cricket” but SRH on the other hand have also found a captain cool in Kane Williamson and they will be backing themselves to lift the second IPL trophy in three years, especially after an inspiring show by Rashid Khan against KKR in qualifier 2.
IPL final 2018 Match Date: 27 May 2018, Sunday
Timing: 19:00 IST, 13:30 GMT
Venue: Wankhede stadium, Kolkata
Match Importance
The winner takes the coveted trophy. Two times champion CSK will be rooting for the title after 7 years. On the other hand SRH will look to conquer its 2nd IPL title.
Weather Forecast for IPL final 2018
There is no signs of rain, and the temperature will range from 32’c-34’c in the evening with a cloud cover of 28%. However the humidity level of 77% will make it a hotter evening in the financial capital.
Positives
CSK: The place between Du Plessis and Sam Billings was looking a bit confused. But after a match turning knock by Du Plessis in the 1st Qualifier against SRH, he has finally cemented the spot and Dhoni has a winning combination coming into the grand finale.
CSK has also found a death overs specialist in Ngidi who gave away just 20 runs and picked 1 wicket.
Some meaty blows by Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar speaks the volume of firepower in the lower order and their batting looks formidable.
SRH: The Williamson led side was struggling to get a win and needed an inspiration to turn things around. It was Rashid Khan who did the job for them to stop the streak of four straight looses and ensuring a place in the finals. 34 runs of just 10 balls, 3 crucial wickets and clinging on to two catches, proved way too handy. Khan will be the biggest “X” factor coming into the finals.
Saha was recalled to the playing 11 and he alongside Shikhar Dhawan gave a solid foundation at the start. The pair added 56 runs for the 1st wicket partnership.
Area of concern
Chennai Super Kings: Their highest run getter Shane Watson and Ambati Rayudu were dismissed for a duck in the last match. The two batsmen have been instrumental in CSK’s rise to the second spot in the points table and they need to fire if CSK stands any chance to beat the resurgent SRH.
SRH: Tournament’s highest run getter and their captain Kane Williamson has not been amongst the runs in the playoffs. He scored just 27 runs in 2 matches that exposes their middle order, which is struggling to get going.
Their lower middle order batsman are failing to score at a healthy strike rate and leave all the job to be done by the lower order.
Key Players
CSK: Shane Watson and Lungi Ngidi
SRH: Carlos Braithwaite and Rashid Khan
Head to Head Battle
10 Matches played between the two teams
8 times CSK has won
2 times SRH has won
Key battles
Wankhede stadium offers short boundaries which may become the breeding ground for Shane Watson, who likes to go big from the word go. However Rashid Khan can prove handy as Watson has struggled against spinners in the tournament.
Another player battle will emerge between Shikhar Dhawan and Lungisani Ngidi
Astrological Predictions for IPL final 2018
There’s little to choose for the astrologers as well
CSK’s win percentage: 51%
SRH’s win percentage: 49%
Trivia
Harbhajan needs just one wicket to complete 50 IPL wickets at Wankhede. The venue used to be his home ground when he played for Mumbai Indians in the first 10 IPL seasons.
Teams
Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C), Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Faf du Plessis, Harbhajan Singh, Dwayne Bravo, Shane Watson, Ambati Rayadu, Deepak Chahar, K M Asif, Kanish Seth, Lungi Ngidi, Dhruv Shorey, Murali Vijay, Sam Billings, Mark Wood, Kshtiz Sharma, Monu Kumar, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma, Shardul Thakur, N Jagadeesan, David Willy.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Kane Williamson (C ), Shikhar Dhawan, Manish Pandey, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Wriddhiman Saha, Siddharth Kaul, Deepak Hooda, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Shreevats Goswami, Ricky Bhui, Basil Thampi, T Natarajan, Sachin Baby, Bipul Sharma, Mehdi Hasan, Tanmay Agarwal, Alex Hales, Carlos Brathwaite, Rashid Khan, Shakib Al Hasan, Mohammad Nabi and Chris Jordan.
