IPL 2021: CSK vs KKR, Match 38 Toss, Playing XIs: Kolkata Knight Riders opt to bat against Chennai Super Kings

Bengaluru, Sept. 26: In match 38 of IPL 2021, Chennai Super Kings take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

Playing in the first match of the Sunday double header, Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and elected to bat first against Chennai Super Kings. In one of those rare occasions, two World Cup winning captains faced off at the toss, with Morgan naming an unchanged KKR side after winning the toss. Meanwhile, Chennai will have one change as Sam Curran comes in for Dwayne Bravo

The Super Kings carried their form from the first half of the season as the MS Dhoni-led Chennai outfit notched up back-to-back wins after the IPL resumed in the UAE. On the other hand, the Eoin Morgan-led Knight Riders did a 360 degree turn from the first half, as they put their dismal first half behind with two convincing wins after the second half got underway.

While the Super Kings are placed second on the points table, with seven wins from nine matches, the rejuvenated Kolkata side broke into the top four with four wins from nine matches.

As the race for the playoffs heat up, the Knights will look to carry on the momentum and notch up a third win on the trot to strenghten their bid for a top four spot. On the other hand, a win for Chennai, will see them climb back to the top of the points table.

CSK vs KKR Playing XIs:

CSK Playing XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Daf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (capt, wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood

KKR Playing XI: Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (capt), Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy

Captain's Speak:

MS Dhoni (CSK): One change. In place of Bravo, Sam comes in. He had a few niggles in the CPL, so we need to make sure he doesn't develop them further. Support staff in very important. Having experienced players help and in IPL its about managing the combinations.

Eoin Morgan (KKR): No changes today. We've started well in the second phase, but it will be a different challenge as its a day game.The same XI is good. I think the tracks are slowing down a little bit. There was more pace compared to last year. It will get slower in the heat as the game progresses.