Chennai Super Kings will face Kolkata Knight Riders in the Final of the 2021 Indian Premier League on Friday, October 15 at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The Knight Riders, captained by Eoin Morgan, successfully managed to qualify for an IPL final seven years after the 2014 edition. On Wednesday, the Men in gold and purple beat the Delhi Capitals by three wickets at Sharjah cricket stadium. In the last three overs, KKR need only 11 runs to win, but the DC bowlers made a stupendous comeback. The Capitals’ bowlers got the target up to six runs from two balls. In the end, Rahul Tripathi’s six off Ravi Ashwin sealed the deal for KKR. Before the final, KKR need to be be careful as they lost both their matches against the Super Kings in the league stage. CSK, led by MS Dhoni, qualified for the final after beating the capitals by four wickets on Sunday in Dubai.Match DetailsChennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders, FinalVenueDubai International Cricket Stadium Date &Time:October 15th at 7:30 PM IST, and at 6:00 PM local timeLive Streaming: Star Sports Network and Disney+HotstarPitch ReportThe pitch in Dubai has been an excellent one for batting. But of late, the track has shown signs of slowing down a wee bit. In the ongoing IPL, nine out of 11 matches have been won by the chasing teams. Chasing should be the way forward for teams.Avg first innings score:152 (11 matches in the IPL 2021 at Dubai)Record of chasing teams: Won - 9, Lost - 2, Tied - 0Probable Playing XIsChennai Super KingsRuturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Robin Uthappa, MS Dhoni (C & WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Dwayne Bravo, Josh Hazlewood Bench: Robin Uthappa, KM Asif, Jason Behrendorff, Bhagath Verma, Krishnappa Gowtham, Narayan Jagadeesan, Lungi Ngidi, Cheteshwar Pujara, Harishankar Reddy, R Sai Kishore, Karn Sharma, Sam Curran, Imran TahirKolkata Knight RidersVenkatesh Iyer, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (c), Sunil Narine, Shakib Al Hasan, Dinesh Karthik, Shivam Mavi, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy Bench: Karun Nair, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Ben Cutting, Pawan Negi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Tim Southee, Sheldon Jackson, Tim Seifert, Harbhajan Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Sandeep Warrier, Vaibhav Arora, Andre Russell, Prasidh KrishnaHead-to-HeadOverallPlayed - 27 | Chennai Super Kings– 17 | Kolkata Knight Riders– 9 | N / R - 0In the UAEPlayed - 3 | Chennai Super Kings– 2 | Kolkata Knight Riders– 1 | N / R - 0Probable best batter of the matchVenkatesh Iyer— Kolkata Knight RidersVenkatesh Iyer has been a fantastic prospect for the Knights in the 2021 edition of the IPL. The left-hander has looked in ominous touch, having scored 320 runs at an average of 40 and a strike rate of 125. The southpaw has scored three half-centuries and must be high on confidence. In the Qualifier 2, Iyer scored a magnificent fifty and saw KKR over the finishing line.Probable best bowler of the matchVarun Chakravarthy– Kolkata Knight RidersVarun Chakravarthy has been excellent for KKR, especially in the UAE leg of IPL 2021. The off-spinner is currently the leading wicket-taker for the Knights, having taken 18 wickets at an economy rate of 6.40. The tweaker has been tough to get away on the slow and low wickets in the UAE. In the previous game, he picked up two wickets and looked in great rhythm.Today’s match prediction:Kolkata Knight Riders to win the match.Also Read- BCCI unveils Team India's new jersey ahead of T20 World Cup
The stage is full set for the 14th edition of the IPL final. In the battle of the south and east, the Chennai Super Kings will face the Kolkata Knight Riders in the final of IPL 2021. In a critical finish, the Chennai Super Kings secured a 4-wicket victory over the Delhi Capitals to cement their spot in the finals. This is their ninth final and which is the most by any team in IPL history. Every individual player contributed a lot to the success of Chennai in this edition. Ruturaj Gaikwad is in contention for the Emerging Player of the award and again proved his worth by scoring valuable 70 runs in the winning cause in Qualifier 1. On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders held their nerves against Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2 and won the match by three wickets in the final over the match, and booked their final spot. They have a 100 percent win record in the IPL finals and dreaming to lift the trophy for the third time. The second leg of the IPL was phenomenal for them as they totally became a formidable side.Match Details:Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders, FinalVenue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, DubaiDate &Time: October 15th at 7:30 PM IST, and at 6:00 PM local timeLive Streaming: Star Sports Network and Disney+HotstarPitch Report:It’s an excellent sporting wicket that has got genuine bounce. The par score on this surface is between 165-170. The seamers can extract more pace out of the wicket. Playing to the merit will be the key for the batters here.Probable Playing XIs CSK vs KKR:Chennai Super KingsRuturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Robin Uthappa, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Josh Hazlewood, Deepak ChaharKolkata Knight RidersShubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Eoin Morgan (c), Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Shivam Mavi, Varun ChakravarthyCSK vs KKR Top Picks for CSK vs KKR Dream11 Match:Top Picks – BatsmenRuturaj Gaikwad is just 24 runs away from becoming the leading run-scorer in this edition of the IPL. He had a terrific journey in the IPL 2021 where he has scored 603 runs in 15 matches at an average of 46.38. Shubman Gill became the leading run-scorer for Knight Riders in this IPL. He made batting look very simple on bowling-friendly surfaces. In 16 matches in this edition, he has mustered 427 runs at an average of 26.68 with the highest score of 57.Top Picks – All-RoundersRavindra Jadeja can bowl 3-4 overs for his captain in quick succession without giving any sort of room for the batters to go after him. So far in this IPL, he has picked up 11 wickets at an economy of 6.86 and scored 227 runs with the bat at an average of 75.66. We can say easily say, Venkatesh Iyer, is the player to watch out for in the future. The batting abilities he has possessed in this IPL have been innumerable. In 9 matches, he has scored 320 runs at an average of 40 and even picked up 3 wickets as well.Top Picks – BowlersShardul Thakur will be brimming with confidence. He has been picked in the Indian T20 World Cup revised squad. He was rewarded for his excellent bowling performances in the 2nd leg of the IPL. Overall, in this IPL, he has scalped 18 wickets in 15 matches at an economy of 8.75. With the way, Varun Chakravarthy is performing in this IPL, he will definitely be going to find his place in the final eleven in the T20 World Cup. In 16 matches, he has scalped 18 wickets in this edition of the IPL at an economy of 6.4.Top Picks – WicketkeepersThe greatest finisher, MS Dhoni has returned to his best with a match-winning knock of 18* runs from 6 balls in Qualifier 1 against Delhi Capitals. He still averages 16.28 in this tournament.Suggested Playing XI No.1 for CSK vs KKR Dream11 Fantasy Cricket:MS Dhoni, Robin Uthappa, Faf du Plessis (c), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ravindra Jadeja, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer (vc), Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Varun ChakravarthySuggested Playing XI No.2 for CSK vs KKR Dream11 Fantasy Cricket:Dinesh Karthik, Ambati Rayudu, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi (vc), Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Josh Hazlewood, Shardul Thakur, Varun ChakravarthyCSK vs KKR Must Picks for Dream11 Fantasy Cricket:Player Statistics Dream11 Points Ruturaj Gaikwad 603 runs 900 Faf du Plessis 547 runs 868 Venkatesh Iyer 320 runs 577 Varun ChaKravarthy 18 wickets 648 Sunil Narine 14 wickets and 60 runs 597 CSK vs KKR Risky Captaincy Choices:Robin Uthappa showed his vintage batting skills in Qualifier 1 against top-quality Delhi Capitals bowling unit. He scored 63 runs in no time. He is a risky captaincy pick for your fantasy teams. Nitish Rana has scored 383 runs in 15 innings in this tournament at an average of 31.91 with the highest score of 80. You can take a risk and pick him as your fantasy team skipper.Player you should avoid:Eoin Morgan has been spot on with his captaincy skills but as a batter, he has failed in this tournament. Hence, it’s better to avoid him while making your fantasy teams.Also Read- BCCI unveils Team India's new jersey ahead of T20 World Cup
