CSK have better resources but they must utilise them to the hilt. Teams:
India pulled off a brilliant all-round performance to trounce New Zealand by 178 runs in the second Test and clinch the series with an unassailable 2-0 lead, a win that propelled the team to the top of the ICC rankings, dethroning arch-rivals Pakistan.
Time is fast running out for the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings, a team which desperately needs its batting to click when it takes on SunRisers Hyderabad in Dubai on Tuesday in a battle to keep its IPL hopes alive.
IMAGES from Day 2 of the Boxing Day Test played between Australia and New Zealand at the MCG on Friday.
Harbhajan Singh has already the CSK management about his decision of opting out of the T20 league, starting on September 19.
Paceman Dushmantha Chameera took career-best figures with aggressive short-pitched bowling to give Sri Lanka a slight advantage at the close of play on the second day of the second Test against New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Saturday.
The West Indies are currently lying seventh in the 10-team standings with just three points in their kitty and they can't afford any further loss to stay in the mix for a semifinal spot.
Jayawardene credited MI and New Zealand's bowling coach Shane Bond for perfectly planning and executing India's downfall in the last match.
New Zealand held their nerve under the floodlights to beat Bangladesh by two wickets in a dramatic low-scoring Cricket World Cup match at The Oval on Wednesday.
While both Taylor and Latham were unable to see their side through to victory, Mitchell Santner, who scored just two from his first nine deliveries then scored another 43 from the next 18, won the game with his fourth six and finished on 45 not out.
While multiple-time world champions and Champions Trophy winners Australia are always a tough nut to crack, New Zealand will enter the game at Edgbaston with renewed confidence after their six-wicket warm-up win over Sri Lanka at the same venue.
Tom Latham and Jeet Raval weathered an intense examination for over 25 overs to guide New Zealand to 67 without loss at the close of the rain-affected second day of the third Test against South Africa at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Sunday.
The Kiwis will have greater concern over their lack of finishing after squandering two last over winning positions in two consecutive games, and the series along with.
South Africa were 224 for six at the close of play in a chilly Dunedin with a lead of 191 runs entering the final day on a pitch that is turning but offering little assistance for the pace bowlers and is proving difficult to score from.
Batsmen from Papua New Guinea, Oman and UAE leap to find place in top-50
A batsman of Russell's calibre may just prove to be the difference between the two sides.
It will interesting to see how the pitch behaves on Sunday.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who will be leading the defending champions for the 10th year, would be used as a floater if required
Kane Williamson's gamble to compromise on speed and pick three specialist spinners paid off as New Zealand humbled hosts India by 47 runs in a spin-dominated Super 10 contest of the World Twenty20 in Nagpur, on Tuesday.
Colin Munro blasted a quickfire half-century as New Zealand pipped India by four runs in a high-scoring thriller to win the three-match T20 International 2-1, in Hamilton, on Sunday.
Virat Kohli will be facing the most defining test of his captaincy career as he expects his men to be the proverbial 'phoenix rising from the ashes' when India take on a street-smart New Zealand in a do-or-die T20 World Cup Super 12 match in Dubai on Sunday.
The ball was old, the stage set and expectations high but India's Rohit Sharma again spurned the opportunity to assert his long-form credentials in the first test against New Zealand on Thursday. Often hailed as the next big thing to come out of Mumbai since Sachin Tendulkar, the 29-year-old is an automatic choice in the limited-overs side and the only batsman to score two one-day international double centuries.
Delhi's strong batting line up of Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Ajinkya Rahane, Steven Smith and Pant himself will look to fire on all cylinders right from the opening game.
At the halfway point, after winning just two games out of seven, CSK are looking set to miss the play-offs for the first time in their history. Harish Kotian tells Captain M S Dhoni and Coach Stephen Fleming how to get CSK back to its winning ways.
Wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha's battling half-century helped India reach 316 before the hosts were dismissed in their first innings against New Zealand on the second morning of the second test at Eden Gardens on Saturday.
It remains to be seen whether India stick to their combination of three specialist pacers and two spinners combination or bring in an extra spinner in Kuldeep Yadav to partner Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja.
New Zealand's pacemen struck back with two late wickets under the floodlights at Adelaide Oval but Australia's bowlers basked in the sun as the inaugural day-night Test opened on Friday.
Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santer may have not picked up a wicket in New Zealand's thumping win over India but his tidy spell helped immensely in putting pressure on the opposition batters, said teammmate Ish Sodhi.
Bangladesh put in a disciplined performance in the field to restrict New Zealand to 145-8 in a World Twenty20 Super 10 stage match at the Eden Gardens on Saturday.
Dinesh Chandimal and Dimuth Karunaratne obstinately defied New Zealand's bowlers for much of the second day of the first Test at University Oval in Dunedin on Friday though the hosts still have the upper hand.
Former captain Sunil Gavaskar feels India got a taste of their own medicine in Tuesday's World Twenty20 loss to New Zealand and should be prepared to handle quality spin if they want to dish out rank turners for their opponents.
A win for either side will help it consolidate its position at the top and also seal a spot in Qualifier 1.
Chennai Super Kings skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni batted at number seven against , promoting the likes of Sam Curran, Jadhav and Ruturaj Gaikwad ahead of himself but the ploy backfired badly
After a comfortable outing in the tournament-opener against Bangladesh, title favourites England are set to face a much stiffer test against New Zealand in a crucial ICC Champions Trophy Group A fixture in Cardiff, on Tuesday.
Premier off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin will be in focus alongside speedster Mohammed Shami when defending champions India take on New Zealand on Sunday in their opening warm-up game ahead of the Champions Trophy in London.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni's astute captaincy will be Chennai Super Kings' biggest weapon against a clinical Kolkata Knight Riders, whose troika of top-notch spinners promise to hold the aces in the high-octane Indian Premier League final in Dubai on Friday.
Australia's Marnus Labuschange struck another half century to pile on the runs and the misery over New Zealand on Day 3 of the day-night Test in Perth on Saturday. Earlier, Starc picked a five-wicket haul.
The home team's bowlers will be wary of Chris Gayle's power-hitting.
Trent Boult took the prized wicket of AB de Villiers then bowled Dwaine Pretorious in the penultimate over as New Zealand secured a series-levelling six-run victory in the second One-day international against South Africa on Wednesday.
South Africa captain AB de Villiers calmly guided his side to a tense four-wicket victory over New Zealand with one ball to spare in a rain-affected first one-day international in Hamilton on Sunday.
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