IPL 2018: CSK vs SRH: Preview: Playing 11s, Timings, Live Streaming & More

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Pune, May 12: Needing a win from three games to book a play-offs berth, former champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) take on table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad here on Sunday (May 13).

The Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led CSK started their campaign, after returning to the T20 League from a two-year ban, on a high by winning five out of their first six games before losing to defending champions Mumbai Indians.

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They now have 14 points from 11 matches and they need just one win from the three games in hand. Last night's defeat to Rajasthan Royals, also returning to the fold after two years, has made CSK wait in their quest for a play-offs spot.

The four-wicket loss to the Royals was their third in their last five matches and another setback against Sunrisers, who have been the team to beat in this edition and the first team to enter the playoffs, could add pressure on them.

No wonder then Dhoni lost his cool during the post-match presentation and blamed CSK bowlers for failing to defend the total of 176 against Rajasthan Royals.

"We were supposed to bowl one particular length. The bowlers were instructed what to bowl: back of a length. They could not execute. We were hit for a lot of boundaries off full balls. 176 was a par-plus score, the bowlers let us down," Dhoni said.

With 18 points to their credit, SRH led astutely by New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson will also look to consolidate their top spot and ensure a top-two finish at the end of the league stage.

Opener Shikhar Dhawan (290 runs) got into the groove at the opportune time with a big knock against Delhi Daredevils while inspirational skipper Williamson (493 runs) has been in prime form throughout the tournament.

Yusuf Pathan (186 ), Manish Pandey (184) and Shakib-Al-Hasan (158) have also chipped in at crunch situations. But it is in their versatile bowling attack, the Sunrisers found their strength.

The bowlers, led by India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, were terrific till the last game when Rishabh Pant took them on with a whirlwind unbeaten 128, albeit in a lost cause.

The attack, which has successfully defended low totals, needs to erase the memories of the hammering it got against Delhi Daredevils and get back into the groove against the dangerous Super Kings batting line-up.

The Teams (From): 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 and N Jagadeesan, David Willey.

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.

MATCH LIVE ON STAR SPORTS FROM 4 PM