The home team's bowlers will be wary of Chris Gayle's power-hitting.
CSK would be looking to continue the momentum.
Ambati Rayudu will be aiming to make a statement when a marauding Chennai Super Kings take on a desperate Sunrisers Hyderabad
New Zealand last toured Pakistan in 2003 for a white-ball series and since then have avoided touring the country because of security reasons.
A win for either side will help it consolidate its position at the top and also seal a spot in Qualifier 1.
Guyana Amazon Warriors crushed St. Lucia Zouks by seven wickets to jump to the second place in the points table.
All-rounder Dwayne Bravo wrote his own piece of history, while Praveen Tambe became the first Indian cricketer to play in the Hero Caribbean Premier League as Trinbago Knight Riders posted their fourth straight win, beating St Lucia Zouks by six wickets via D/L method in a rain-truncated match, in Port of Spain on Wednesday.
Chennai Super Kings will aim to maintain their pole position with a victory over a struggling Kings XI Punjab
CSK captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni missed the game against SRH due to a stiff back but is likely to be back for Sunday's match against Virat Kohli-led RCB.
Ashok Menaria and Kedar Jadhav hit half centuries as India 'A' scored a nail-biting two-wicket victory over New Zealand 'A' in the third and final one-dayer in Visakhapatnam on Thursday. The victory, which was achieved with four balls to spare, gave the hosts a 3-0 series triumph.
Trent Boult and Tim Southee have exposed the chinks in Prithvi Shaw's armour but India captain Virat Kohli is ready to wait and watch before any corrective analysis as he does not see a pattern in the young opener's dismissals so far. There are a few shortcomings that experts have noticed in Shaw's batting after the 20-year-old right-handed batsman scored just 16 and 14 in the two innings of the first Test against New Zealand in Wellington, which India lost by 10 wickets.
The lack of fight in the run chase was a big disappointment, as mentioned by captain Rohit Sharma in Wellington. Despite having eight batsmen in the eleven, India lost by 80 runs.
Neither side will be at full strength, as a string of first-team players will be missing due to injuries, when India and New Zealand meet in the opening match of the ODI series on Wednesday in Hamilton.
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.
It was CSK who denied Delhi a top-two spot in the league standings with a crushing 80-run win at Chepauk and the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side stands in their way again, only the stakes are much higher.
Table-toppers Chennai Super Kings will look to complete the double against Kolkata Knight Riders, just like Delhi Capitals did, when the teams clash in Sunday's IPL match in Kolkata. The home side's consistency has suddenly taken a beating after two defeats on the trot, first in Chennai and then against Delhi Capitals on Friday night. Thus, the Knight Riders will be under immense pressure to arrest the slide when they face mighty Chennai.
Registering their first points of the competition in the final league game, Barbados Tridents managed an edgy six-wicket consolation win against Northern Knights in a rain-reduced Champions League Twenty20.
Virat Kohli inflicted more Super Overs misery on New Zealand as he helped India to a second successive victory in sudden death to win the fourth Twenty20 international in Wellington on Friday. Images from the fourth T20 International between New Zealand and India in Wellington on Friday.
Rohit Sharma belted two sixes off the final two deliveries of a Super Over to give India victory in a thrilling finish in the third Twenty20 international against New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Wednesday and clinch the series with two games to spare. Images from the third T20 between India and New Zealand, at Hamilton, on Wednesday.
After the gruelling league phase of the ongoing IPL, the stage is set for the play-offs with CSK and MI clashing against each other for a place in May 12 final.
Ashok Menaria produced an all-round show as India 'A' scored a convincing six-wicket victory over New Zealand 'A' in the second one-dayer between the countries to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.
In a tight season for India, the first T20 comes only five days after their last ODI against Australia at home.
Every person was tested 72 hours before they travelled in order to ensure that all members of the party were travelling virus free.
Rohit Sharma-led squad will be hoping it has enough left in the tank to record a maiden T20 series win in New Zealand
List of players released by IPL teams ahead of next month's auction for 2020 season:
An unassailable lead has opened up the window for experimentation but there will be no letup in India's intensity when they face a heartbroken New Zealand team in the fourth T20 International, in Wellington, on Friday. Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant are waiting for opportunities, with the former expected to get a look-in. Pant's call-up would depend on which batsman is left out, and whether KL Rahul will continue to keep wickets.
India won the twin T20 Internationals in Auckland by margins of six and seven wickets respectively to go 2-0 up in the five-match series.
Chennai Super Kings pacer Deepak Chahar has agreed with his captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni that the team needs a better pitch at home despite winning all their games, in Chennai, so far.
IMAGES from the 2nd T20 International played between New Zealand and India in Auckland on Friday
Mumbai Indians have won three out of the four IPL finals they have been part of, including the two against CSK in 2013 and 2015.
The 24-year-old wicketkeeper injured the index finger on his right hand while fielding in South Africa's eight-wicket win in the second Test in Wellington and underwent scans earlier this week.
590 cricketers -- including 370 Indian players and 220 overseas players -- will go under the hammer during the two-day mega auction in Bengaluru on February 12 and 13.
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