Punjab Kings vs Chennai Super Kings - IPL 2022 Match 38: Who Will Win?

Punjab Kings Team Preview

The Punjab Kings have netted six points in the tournament so far and have a negative run rate of 0.562. They will be keen to break their streak of losses - one from this match would push them to three in a row. Against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, they were handed a defeat by 7 wickets with 7 balls left, however, against the Delhi Capitals in Match 32, they had a very difficult time to defend their total of 115. This one-sided affair led the Capitals to win by 9 wickets with 57 balls left.

Skipper Mayank Agarwal commented that it was a ‘day to forget’ and will be ready to leave this defeat in the past while looking ahead to this match. The Kings failed to get into any kind of momentum and managed to pick up runs only here and there. The openers were out within 35 balls. Shikhar Dhawan was caught out at 33/1 after scoring just 9 runs from 10 balls, with captain Agarwal dismissed at 35/2 after scoring 24 runs from 15 balls. It's clear that it wasn’t a top day for the team as the top run scorer Jitesh Sharma with just 32 runs (from 23 balls). From the fall of wicket 6 to wicket 10, the Kings only managed to add a total of 25 runs to their score, which left them with the disappointingly low 115.

The bowlers didn’t have much to defend, and the Capitals were able to run away with their score. Prithvi Shaw scored 41 from 20 balls, David Warner scored 60 not out from 30 balls, and Sarfaraz Khan took the Capitals over the line with 12 runs not out from 13 balls. All in all, it wasn’t an easy time for the Kings. Nathan Ellis finished with an economy of 7.50 - the lowest in the squad. Rahul Chahar picked up Shaw’s wicket at 83/1 and conceded 21 runs for an economy of 8.40, however it was too little too late. Kagiso Rabada, Vaibhav Arora, and Arshdeep Singh ended with an economy of 11.67, 15.50, and 17.00.

The Punjab Kings must be able to shake off their disappointing loss from the Delhi Capitals and go into this game with a fresh mindset. Although Liam Livingstone must be frustrated with his early exit from the Capitals match, if he can give another performance akin to the one against the Sunrisers, it will certainly give the Kings a fighting chance and an opportunity to continue the momentum in the middle order. For this reason, he is our IPL prediction for the top batsman market.

Chennai Super Kings Team Preview

The Chennai Super Kings have a smattering of winnings in this season’s tournament but are yet to find their feet. Their last four matches have flipflopped from loss to win, loss to win. If this pattern is anything to go by, then the Super Kings are in for another defeat. They currently have a net run rate of negative 0.534, just slightly lower, which will make this match all the more interesting between these two teams.

The Super Kings barely clinched the victory against the Mumbai Indians, winning by 3 wickets with 0 balls left. This match was truly a rollercoaster ride, with the momentum swinging from side to side. Their success can be attributed to the partnership between Dwaine Pretorius (22 off 14 balls) and MS Dhoni in the last over, with Dhoni taking the squad over the finishing line with an impressive strike rate of 215.38 from 28 runs from 13 balls not out. This electrifying end bookmarked a thrilling game. While the ending when to the Super Kings, the first ball definitely was for the Indians. Ruturaj Gaikwad was handed a golden duck after being caught out by Tilak Varma. Gaikwad has an average of 15.42 for his seven IPL 2022 matches so far - the worst average amongst the Super Kings squad. The rest of top order was fruitful, seeing Robin Uthappa score 30 runs from 25 balls, Mitchell Santner score 11 runs from 9 balls, and Ambati Rayudu score 40 runs from 35 balls. If you want to make a match prediction today at one of the leading IPL betting sites, then Rayudu could be a good choice for top batsman.

The bowlers put on a good performance for the Super Kings. Mukesh Choudhary took three wickets, while Dwayne Bravo took two, and Mitchell Santner and Maheesh Theekshana took one. All bowlers had an economy under 9.01, and the most economical player (5.33) was Santner after conceding just 16 runs in his three overs.

Toss Prediction

You will not be alone in wondering when -or if- a captain will choose to bat first. Could we go through a whole Indian Premier League season seeing the same decision for the toss? It’s no surprise that captains are inviting their opponents to bat first, as during the second innings, the threat of dew could be enough to give to give that team a slight disadvantage. Once a cricket ball becomes wet, a bowler’s grip is greatly affected. Therefore, we can feel quite confident with our toss prediction, that whoever wins the toss will choose to field first.

Pitch Conditions

Wankhede Stadium is one of the red-soil stadiums in the IPL 2022 this season. Characteristically, this means the pitch should carry some bounce which can provide nice assistance to the bowlers. As red-soil pitches have less ability to absorb water, this means it can get dry more easily which leads to cracking and crumbling. With the T20 format, this typically won’t pose too many problems than what we might see in Test cricket, however, the Wankhede pitch has seen a fair bit of action in a short span of time - especially after the location change Pune to Wankhede for the Delhi Capital/ Rajasthan Royal in Match 34.

158.2 is the average first innings score, which compares to 177.0 which is the average first innings winning score. Therefore, we should be looking at scores around 180 for a comfortable position from the defending team.