Struggling to find half decent starts with the bat, Chennai Super Kings ideally wouldn't have liked this match up early on against the best bowling side in powerplays in IPL 2020, the Kings XI Punjab. And yet here they are, playing their third straight game in Dubai on Sunday, and desperately searching for a win to snap their three-match losing streak since the opening night. CSK have the lowest average, second-lowest run-rate and have lost the joint most wickets inside the first six overs this powerplay - just what KXIP might have wanted though to turn their campaign around.
KXIP aim to end their woes against rusty CSK

Not that it's all hunky-dory in the opposition's camp, who have lost just as many in their four games so far. For a team that has among the highest run-getters (KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal) and the highest wicket-taker (Mohammed Shami), you'd expect better from Punjab than just the two points. But, despite leading the way in the first 15 overs of their bowling innings, KXIP have consistently lost the plot in the final five which in turn has had a knock-on effect on their batting, resulting in three embarrassing defeats.
The solution? CSK have refrained from tampering with the core of their side, as evident from their auction strategy to add more spinners despite the concerns in their batting camp last edition. So, they'll keep faith in their match-winners as head coach Stephen Fleming openly admitted, for it's too early to read into it, and look for answers within. CSK do look better balanced now with the return of Dwayne Bravo and Ambati Rayudu, but it's the lack of returns from Shane Watson and Kedar Jadhav that's pulling them down. It wouldn't probably hurt to take a punt on Rayudu as an opener for a game or two, and allow Watson to find his groove without any pressure of scoring quickly.
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