Chennai superkings expecting for a win

Mohali will need to be more than ordinary if they are to upset a rampaging Chennai in their own backyard.
Mohali have lost all their three matches and their batsmen and bowlers have failed to perform as a unit.

In all the three matches, Mohali had worked themselves into a position from which they could have won. But they lost each time. Kumar Sangakkara’s men will have to get over the last-minute jitters against Chennai, who look well-settled, formidable and are clear favourites.

Matthew Hayden has been fantastic so far for Chennai. Suresh Raina also looked quite at ease with captaincy in the absence of regular skipper MS Dhoni. And, much to Mohali’s displeasure, their bowlers -- Albie Morkel, Balaji and Muttiah Muralitharan are also coming into their own.

Mohali have match-winners in skipper Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene. However, they require Yuvraj Singh to fire. They team can also do with some contribution from Irfan Pathan, who dazzled against Hyderabad, and Sreesanth to take wickets upfront. If Piyush Chawla is influential with his leg-spin, it will be a bonus. The side is desperately missing the injured Brett Lee's bowling at the death.

Meanwhile, Dhoni could return to action sooner than expected, with the wicketkeeper-batsman likely to take the field against Mumbai on March 25.
Chennai vs. Mohali: Head to Head

Played: 5
Won by Chennai: 5 (Winning % 100.00)
Won by Punjab: 0

Approaching milestones:

- Matthew Hayden (872) requires 28 runs to become the fourth batsman after Gilchrist (1056), Raina (928) and Gambhir (901) to complete 900 runs or more in the IPL.

- Suresh Raina (928) needs 72 to become the second batsman after Gilchrist to complete 1,000 runs in the IPL.

- Irfan Pathan, with just one wicket, would be moving into the second place with 35 wickets behind RP Singh (41).