CSK faces streak-breaking Royals

Letting loose:Chennai Super Kings fans will be expecting captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to do more with the bat against Rajasthan Royals.
Chennai: Momentum is a strong ally to have in your corner of the ring, and no one will attest to it more than Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, the teams that will face off at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday.
Both teams have ridden the crest of serial wins to league titles. Rajasthan's triumph in the inaugural edition came on the back of a 13-3 (win-loss) run through the season, while Chennai turned its beleaguered IPL 3 campaign around with a 7-2 sequence that culminated in the title.
Despite an indifferent start to season IV, Chennai (10 points from 8 matches), largely by way of its form at home, has climbed back into contention. The side has racked up three wins on the bounce since its away loss to Mumbai, and will do better than to take its next opponent lightly.
Rajasthan, having frequently felt both edges — the side went win-less for four matches in the early parts of the season — of the impelling force of momentum, will be even more afraid to give up on its own three-match winning streak. The side's batting form has been scratchy (no player in the top-20 run maker's list), and its leading bat is the unlikely Johan Botha (189 runs at an average of 89.5).
Good bowling attack
It is the bowlers, however, that have done well for Rajasthan (11 points from 9 matches) mid-way through the season, restricting the opposition to 109, 94 and 143 in its three wins coming into Wednesday's match.
This red-hot unit will be up against Chennai's batting, which hasn't always fired. Michael Hussey (248 runs at 49.6) along with Subramaniam Badrinath (240 runs at 120) have been the mainstays, and the side will look to Murali Vijay and skipper M.S. Dhoni to come good soon.
Doug Bollinger (10 wickets at an economy rate of 6.05) and Ravichandran Ashwin (seven wickets at 6.68) have led Chennai's lines, and on the occasions that the rest (Shadab Jakati, Suraj Randiv and Albie Morkel) have chipped in, the bowling, in the absence of out-and-out match winners, has looked equipped to squeeze and throttle.
That has been Chennai's modus operandi at home, where the bowling unit has successfully defended a series of par scores (153 against KKR, 142 against Pune and 165 against Deccan).
Rajasthan's bowlers, and Shane Warne (11 wickets at 6.03) in particular, have done well in conditions that mimic Chennai's slow turners, and will look to put an end to the local team's increasingly ominous home-record. The side also has a growing reputation as a streak-breaker to call upon, having already halted Kochi and Mumbai (both of whom had a ‘W-W-W' sequence blotched by a loss to Rajasthan) earlier in the season.