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Chennai Super Kings (CSK) skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to field first against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune.
Dhoni made just one change to his winning combination. The CSK legend brought back Moeen Ali in the side in place of Kiwi all-rounder Mitchell Santner.
“It stops a bit initially. And it's one of the venues where toss doesn't matter much because it's an open ground so the dew sets in pretty late. One change, in place of Santner we have Moeen. We have had partnerships and we want to be more consistent,” Dhoni said after winning the toss.
RCB skipper Faf du Plessis did not make any change to his side despite the defeat in the previous game. “Not sure about the toss to be honest. We were considering batting first tonight,” the former Proteas skipper said after losing the toss.
While RCB have two more wins compared to CSK, both the teams are in same boat as they need a win desperately.
“Until now I haven't performed the way I would have liked. The team expects from me and I have not delivered. My role is to pick wickets in the powerplay and set the tone for the rest of the innings. The last match we played here there was some help for the bowlers and it was not easy to hit back of a length,” RCB bowler Mohammed Siraj said before the game.
“Every game in the IPL there's a lot of energy, the crowd going nuts and it is always exciting, but this being the Southern Derby we are all looking forward to having a good contest. We had our wedding number six not too long ago and we had a nice reception from RCB,” RCB star batter Glenn Maxwell said.
RCB XI: Faf du Plessis(c), Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik(w), Mahipal Lomror, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood
CSK XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Moeen Ali, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwaine Pretorius, Simarjeet Singh, Mukesh Choudhary, Maheesh Theekshana
