Chennai: Billed as the South Indian Derby, Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore play Monday's IPL 8 blockbuster with contrasting results behind them. Catch all the live updates here from MAC Chidambaram Stadium (Chepauk), in Chennai .
16:20: McCullum and Raina continue to get the boundaries. Chennai innings on the move. Dhoni would be happy with the fiery batting display so far, especially since he had recently asked his players to be even more aggressive than usual. "Looking at where we are in the table, I think it's important we try to be a bit more aggressive, see what we can explore and how we can play," he has said recently.
16:15: Raina decides to attack as well! He takes on David Wiese - greets him with a confident shot towards widish long off.
16:12: McCullum goes on the attack. Losing his opening partner has not had any effect on him. The Kiwi smashes Starc for two fours to show that there won't be any change in his aggressive style of play today. The fast outfield will further assist him.
16:08: Kohli brings in Yuzvendra Chahal's spin for the second over. Suresh Raina has replaced Smith in the middle. He is another CSK batsman who has scored more than 200 runs in IPL 8 so far.
16:05: Out! Fantastic first over from Starc. He bowls a maiden but the icing on the cake is a perfect delivery that was fullish and came back just a bit to rattle the stumps. Smith has to walk back on a duck.
Five of Starc's deliveries shaped away from the batsman but the final ball came back slightly to break Smith's defense. The fact that it was bowled fast further added to the batsman's woes.
15:55: Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith will open the innings for Chennai. The two have been in ruthless form so far in the IPL. While the Kiwi has amassed 295 runs at an average of 36.87, Smith has smashed 274 runs. They will face Mitchell Starc - a bowler who has been quite effective for Bangalore. The Aussie pacer has claimed eight wickets so far and is eager to add to the tally.
15:50: Weather update: It is currently 34C in Chennai. The humidity is at 63% and sea breeze towards the evening will only improve the playing conditions.
15:40: Who is Maddinson? The 23-year-old Aussie is a formidable opening batsman who has played some quality knocks Down Under. He was among the top five scorers, Big Bash scorers in the last season and made his international debut in a T20 against India in 2013.
15:34: Bangalore rest Chris Gayle today. Nic Maddinson replaces the Jamaican while spinner Iqbal Abdulla comes in for Varun Aaron. Chennai bring back Ishwar Pandey.
Squads:
Chennai: McCullum, Smith, Raina, du Plessis, Bravo, Jadeja, Dhoni, Negi, Mohit, Nehra and Pandey.
Bangalore: Kohli, Maddinson, de Villiers, Mandeep, Wiese, Karthik, Khan, Patel, Starc, Chahal and Abdulla.
15:30: Toss! Chennai Super Kings win and Dhoni opts to bat first. "We well look to put up a solid total," he says. Kohli says he would have chosen to bat first as well. "We were looking to set a target too but now we have a challenge and have to overcome it."
Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings have not lost a single IPL 8 game this season at their home ground. After back-to-back defeats, the former champions will hope to arrest this slide at their favourite hunting ground. A victory will take CSK to the top of the table alongside Rajasthan Royals.
Royal Challengers Bangalore, probably the most glamourous team in IPL 8, are currently third in the standings and Virat Kohli's men are on a high having won their last three matches, two of them with consummate ease. Having lost the first leg to CSK at Chinnaswamy, Monday's contest will be a grudge game for RCB. Kohli loves these situations.
Man-to-man, both CSK and RCB have the arsenal to challenge each other. If RCB have a Chris Gayle, CSK have Dwayne Smith. If Bangalore have the dangerous AB De Villiers or a Kohli, can anyone ignore Brendon McCullum or Suresh Raina?
This could be a real a high scoring contest like the first-leg where CSK scored in excess of 180 runs and won by 27 runs. RCB missed Gayle in the first leg contest on April 22. The Jamaican, if he wakes up fit, will surely be the first man on Kohli's playing XI.
Bowlers on both sides will have to play crucial roles. Mitchell Starc has added bite to RCB's attack. The World Cup-winning Aussie pacer has picked eight wickets from four matches and has a great economy rate - 5.78. Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal is RCB's leading bowler with 11 wickets and demands respect.
CSK will also bank on their pace-spin combo with veteran Ashish Nehra being the team's strike bowler with 14 wickets from nine matches. Dhoni badly needs a fit-again Ravichandran Ashwin today. His injured fingers has certainly cost CSK some crucial points on the road.
Although records have no significance, CSK lead RCB 11-7 in head-to-heads, with one no result. More importantly, Chennai have a 5-1 win-loss record against RCB at home.
Courtesy- NDTV