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Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket will return to the MA Chidambaram Stadium with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) as the home side for the first time in four years on Monday, April 3. The Men in Yellow will take on the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their first game of IPL 2023 at their Chepauk fortress.
CSK made a disappointing start to the new season, falling to the Gujarat Titans (GT) by five wickets. The defending champions stifled them with some excellent bowling despite Ruturaj Gaikwad's stellar knock, while Rajvardhan Hangargekar's three-fer on debut went in vain as well.
LSG, on the other hand, easily brushed aside the Delhi Capitals (DC) at home. Kyle Mayers' scintillating knock in tough batting conditions gave them an excellent start. Mark Wood then ripped through the DC batting lineup with an exhibition of mean fast bowling.
The Super Giants have an excellent net run rate of +2.5 right now and will be confident of picking up two points. Conditions in Lucknow were fairly spin-friendly in the last game, at least the odd ball or two, and they took the attack to Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav with aplomb despite that fact.
CSK, meanwhile, will hope that a return to their beloved den instigates their first win of the new campaign. The stadium is bound to be packed to the hilt, and the racuous crowd support could be something LSG are not used to.
IPL 2023, CSK vs LSG Match Prediction: MS Dhoni and Co. eye first points of the season
CSK will need to beef up their bowling attack after fielding a distinctly sub-par one in the opening game of the season. However, they'll be able to use a sixth option in Moeen Ali against a slew of left-handers in LSG's lineup, not to mention the increased role the spinners are bound to play.
Tushar Deshpande was very expensive in Ahmedabad, with Simarjeet Singh on the bench waiting for his chance. If the conditions allow Dhoni to play a fourth spinner, leggie Prashant Solanki could be in line to make his first appearance in IPL 2023.
The Super Giants were propped up by a supreme innings from Mayers, who took the pressure off the rest of the batters in an astonishing display of stroke-making. CSK have the resources - namely Moeen - to see the back of the West Indian southpaw early, though.
The Indian lynchpins of LSG's batting, KL Rahul and Deepak Hooda, looked scratchy against DC. Rahul, in particular, has an excellent record against Chennai and will look to make a substantial contribution for the first time this year.
On the whole, while LSG are definitely the better side on paper, it's tough to pick against the Men in Yellow at home. The Super Giants' lethal bowling attack could help them outbowl the home side, but Chennai are simply a different beast in Chepauk.
A close contest is on the cards, but MS Dhoni could be the happier captain at the end of the game.
Prediction: CSK to win Match 6 of IPL 2023.
