A couple of days after they locked horns in Lucknow, with the home side – Lucknow Super Giants emerging victorious, defending champions Chennai Super Kings will look to return the favour in equal or even greater intensity when the two sides face off in their reverse Indian Premier League (IPL) fixture at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday.

Both sides are stacked one after the other on the IPL points table, having four wins and three losses from seven games each. The Men in Yellow are placed at No. 4, while LSG are positioned at No. 5.

Back on Friday, LSG rode on a solid top order contribution from skipper KL Rahul and Quinton de Kock, and added with a late assault from Nicholas Pooran, to successfully chase down 177, and the trio will once again be expected to shoulder the responsibility in Chennai.

Rahul, who has so far been unable to convert his starts, finally got into his groove, scoring 82 off 53 balls, to lead LSG’s charge in the chase. The wicketkeeper-batter has scored 286 runs from seven innings at an average of 40.86 and a strike rate of 143. His opening partner, de Kock, has scored three fifties in seven outings for LSG, and Pooran has also been in decent form, having scored 246 runs from seven innings at an average of 82 and a strike rate of 164.

On the bowling front, Mohsin Khan and Yash Thakur bowled impressively to initially restrict CSK before Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s late blast spoiled their numbers. The LSG management might have taken note of their death over woes, and the bowling unit will be expected to prepare against the late assault from the CSK power-hitters.

While rookie quick Mayank Yadav is yet to return to action, LSG will be hoping that their overseas recruit Matt Henry will come good in his second outing.

In the spin department, Krunal Pandya’s two wickets made a lot of difference in the middle-overs and he will have to take the lead again against CSK, while young Ravi Bishnoi will look to get his mojo back after being mercilessly dealt by Moeen Ali in the last game.

On the other hand, Chennai Super Kings will be eager to redeem themselves when they take the field in front of a Sea of Yellow. The CSK side has been a dominant force at home, and Ruturaj Gaikwad will be keen to get his side out of the mid-table logjam.

For the CSK, Gaikwad and Shivam Dube have scored the bulk of the runs so far, and the duo’s failure in the previous encounter left the side struggling before Ravindra Jadeja’s timely half century and Dhoni’s carnage helped them post a challenging 176 for 6.

CSK will be desperately hoping for their opener Rachin Ravindra to regain his form soon, and as a result of his slump, the team promoted veteran Ajinkya Rahane as an opener, pushing Gaikwad down to No. 3.

It remains to be seen whether CSK persists with the same combination or allow Gaikwad, who has so far scored three half centuries as an opener, to get back to the top of the order partnering Rahane, who came up with a 24-ball 36 against LSG on Friday.

If the top order manages to set the tone, CSK can hope for the likes of Dube, Jadeja, Moeen Ali and Dhoni to add meat to the score, and eventually power the team to a fighting total.

In bowling, CSK will expect an improved show from their pace unit, comprising the likes of Mustafizur Rahman, Matheesha Pathirana, Deepak Chahar and Tushar Despande, especially after the thrashing at the hands of Rahul and de Kock in their last game.

Left-arm spinner Jadeja and off-spinner Ali will be expected to take advantage of the assistance that the Chennai pitch offers for the slower bowlers.