Defending Champion CSK Look First Win Against Cape Cobras

Chennai: Having faltered in their opening tie against Mumbai Indians, Dhoni & would be keen to get their act together and tame the Cape Cobras in their encounter on Wednesday.

Super Kings batsman S Badrinath said the side would focus on bowling well in the final few overs. "It's important to bowl well in the last leg. That's when the new ball comes on well to the bat and if we can restrict them in the Powerplay overs, it would be tough to get our bowlers away after that, considering the quality of our attack."

With Doug Bollinger milked for 37 runs off a crucial 3.5 overs by Mumbai, Dhoni is left with a lot of thinking to do over his bowling options. Murali Vijay, who looked almost helplessness against Malinga, would also have to rediscover his touch.

Suresh Raina, in contrast, typified economy and lethality scalping two wickets, while giving away a stingy six runs off two overs. The skipper could also draw some solace from the crackling form that Aussie teammate Michael Hussey has been in. Proving to be the lone warhorse as wickets fell around him, Hussey battled to anchor the side to a respectable total against Mumbai.

Chennai fielded a strong side in their opener against Mumbai and will look to build some continuity with the XI they used. Nuwan Kulasekera and Srikkanth Anirudha could both be pushing for a place but both may have to wait a while longer for their opportunity.

The Cobras operated well as a unit to win their opening match against New South Wales and will likely not tamper with a winning XI. Johann Louw and Rory Kleinveldt are waiting in the wings should they feel they need to tinker with the bowling, but Vernon Philander, Charl Langeveldt and Dale Steyn all performed well in Hyderbad and Robin Peterson, Justin Ontong and Owais Shah should be retained in the spin department.

Teams from

India MS Dhoni (capt & wk), M Vijay, S Anirudha, R Ashwin, S Badrinath, DE Bollinger, DJ Bravo, MEK Hussey, SB Jakati, S Randiv, KMDN Kulasekara, JA Morkel, SK Raina, WP Saha (wk), SB Styris

Cape Cobras JM Kemp (capt), JP Duminy, HH Gibbs, RK Kleinveldt, CK Langeveldt, RE Levi, J Louw, JL Ontong, RJ Peterson, VD Philander, AG Puttick, MJ Rippon, OA Shah, DW Steyn, DJ Vilas (wk)

Stats and trivia

• Michael Hussey appears to be reaching his T20 prime. He played in nine matches last year and averaged 57.57
• Herschelle Gibbs has the most ducks for the Cobras - seven in 30 matches. JP Duminy's struck the most fours for them - 89 in 37 games.

Match facts
Wednesday September 28, 2011 (day/night)
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)