Chennai Super Kings vs Punjab Kings, 49th Match - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Preview by Pratyush Sinha

Despite scoring a 39-ball hundred, his first in the IPL, something still felt amiss for Priyansh Arya. "I wanted to talk to Dhoni sir, but he had left the ground by that time," the 24-year-old confessed during a media roundtable, a couple of days after helping Punjab Kings beat Chennai Super Kings by 18 runs in Mullanpur.

Fortunately for Arya, he's got a second shot at it. PBKS are in Chennai for the reverse fixture, a city where it's hard to miss Dhoni. In less than two days since arriving, Yuzvendra Chahal has already met Dhoni and even secured one of his bats, a moment captured in a PBKS video where Arya is heard joking that another cricketer from Haryana will soon be laying claim to it.

Arya might not have met Dhoni just yet, but he will hope to catch a few minutes with him after the match. Only, he can't be sure yet if it will be the right time to approach him. If CSK lose this one, they'll be out of PlayOff contention, missing the knockouts for two consecutive seasons for the first time.

CSK, to their credit, have lately made efforts to remodel their rigid and time-tested approach, opening up their hearts and their Playing XIs to the next generation. They have already used 21 players this season across nine games, fielded their youngest team since 2009 in their last match, including the second-youngest opening pair in IPL history and the youngest ever for CSK across all wickets. Still, a lot more is needed to get the wins flowing.

PBKS, on the other hand, could use an extra bat themselves. Their middle order has largely gone untested, and only one point in last two matches has meant that they find themselves back in the mid-table muddle, from where they would be desperate to break away and push into top-four.

When: Match 49, IPL 2025, on Wednesday, 30 April, at 07:30 PM LOCAL

Where: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

What to expect: It's a black soil surface and it's the most central pitch on the square, with roughly 75 and 72 meter boundaries on either side. It's forecast to be a slightly overcast day, which means there's slightly less chance of dew forming.

Head to head: CSK 16 - 15 PBKS. PBKS have beaten CSK in six of the last seven matches, which includes wins at Chepauk in 2023 and 2024.

Team watch

Chennai Super Kings

Injury/availability concerns: No reported injuries in the squad.

Tactics & matchups: In T20s this year, Dewald Brevis is averaging a shade under 48 and striking at over 181. PBKS bowlers, especially the spinners, might have their task cut out against the youngster and his battle against Chahal will be one to watch out for.

Probable XII: Shaik Rasheed, Ayush Mhatre, Deepak Hooda, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni(w/c), Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Matheesha Pathirana, Anshul Kamboj/R Ashwin

Punjab Kings

Injury/availability concerns: No reported injuries in the squad.

Tactics & matchups: Glenn Maxwell against spin. Since the start of 2024 in IPL, the Australian all-rounder has faced spin in ten innings and has got out to it in all but one innings. While his offbreaks might be handy on the slow and spinny Chepauk surface, his batting form might need a major step-up if PBKS are to earn two points at this venue.

Probable XII: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Shreyas Iyer (c), Josh Inglis (w), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Glenn Maxwell, Azmatullah Omarzai/Xavier Bartlett, Marco Jansen, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harpreet Brar

Did you know

- Only once in five away innings this season has Shreyas been dismissed for a score under 50 (vs RCB in Bengaluru).

- CSK have lost four successive games at Chepauk, only for the second time in their history after 2008-10.

What they said

"The way we batted in the last match, even though we didn't get a winning score, it looked more like the way we'd like to play. So, yeah, the more positive intent was there, looking to push the game forward, looking to take the game on a little bit more, but still do it in a smart way. It definitely looked better than some of the previous games where we looked like we were playing with a little bit more fear, looking to not make a mistake, which is not the way we want to play. It's not going to be successful in this competition." - Michael Hussey, CSK batting coach

"I think in terms of our middle order, it can get quite tough in a tournament where the top order is doing so well and their chances are very limited. If we go through the last few games... we are looking at a middle order that hasn't faced that many balls in the last couple of weeks. They're training very well and I'm not going to say I wish the middle order would do more because that means our top order is not doing what they're doing. I think they'll take our top order doing what they're doing and trust that people like Nehal, Glenn, Josh, Shashank, they'll come good and they'll have their moments when required. - James Hopes, PBKS fast bowling coach

Squads:

Chennai Super Kings Squad: Shaik Rasheed, Ayush Mhatre, Deepak Hooda, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Dewald Brevis, Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni(w/c), Noor Ahmad, Khaleel Ahmed, Matheesha Pathirana, Anshul Kamboj, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Jamie Overton, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tripathi, Shreyas Gopal, Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Mukesh Choudhary, Nathan Ellis, Andre Siddarth C, Vansh Bedi

Punjab Kings Squad: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, Shreyas Iyer(c), Josh Inglis(w), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Glenn Maxwell, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harpreet Brar, Musheer Khan, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Suryansh Shedge, Praveen Dubey, Marcus Stoinis, Xavier Bartlett, Vishnu Vinod, Yash Thakur, Aaron Hardie, Kuldeep Sen, Harnoor Singh, Pyla Avinash