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Peter Green - April 11, 2025
Chennai Super Kings are going through a tough time this season. After five games, they have just one win, which came in their first match against Mumbai Indians. Their most recent game ended in an 18-run loss to Punjab Kings, marking their fourth defeat in a row.
On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders have won two and lost three out of their five matches. Even though their overall form hasn’t been great, their latest performance against a strong LSG team was impressive. They nearly chased down a huge target of 239 runs but fell just four runs short.
Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders have faced off 29 times in the IPL, with CSK dominating the rivalry with 18 wins to KKR’s 10 (1 no result). At Chepauk, CSK holds a strong advantage, winning 7 of their 9 home matches against KKR. In the past five seasons (2020–2024), CSK has clearly been the superior side in this matchup, winning 4 of the 6 contests during this period.
Captain- Ruturaj Gaikwad
Rachin Ravindra, Rahul Tripathi, Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Jamie Overton, Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Matheesha Pathirana, Khaleel Ahmed,
Impact Player- Shivam Dube
Captain- Ajinkya Rahane
Quinton de Kock, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Moeen Ali, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Spencer Johnson, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora
Impact Players- Angkrish Raghuvanshi
Noor Ahmad (CSK): Noor Ahmad, the current Purple Cap holder, has taken 10 wickets so far this season. In the last match, he had his lowest wicket count but still took an important wicket — Priyansh Arya, who had scored the second century of this IPL, in the game against Punjab Kings.
Sunil Narine (KKR): Narine is one of the most dependable all-rounders in this match. His aggressive start with the bat in KKR’s last game helped them chase a huge target of 239 against LSG. His bowling will also be key, as he took three CSK wickets in their last meeting during the previous IPL season.
Even though Chennai has a strong edge in the head-to-head, we don’t think they will do better than KKR on Friday. The main reason is their current form, especially Chennai’s weak batting lineup.
Chennai Super Kings have usually been the stronger team in head-to-head matches, but this time, we don’t expect them to beat Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday. The main reason is the current form of both teams, especially CSK’s weak batting performance. KKR may have lost their last match, but their batting was still impressive.
KKR’s batting lineup is clearly stronger than CSK’s. In their last game, four KKR batters scored more than 30 runs. Their captain, Ajinkya Rahane, is also in the race for the Orange Cap with 184 runs in five games. On the other hand, no CSK batter is currently in the top 10 run-scorers this season.
