May 27 (CRICKETNMORE) - The Indian Premier League 2018 will end on Sunday with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) meeting for the fourth time in the highly popular Twenty20 league this season.
CSK beat SRH in all their three meetings, both the league games as well as in the first qualifier, even though the Hyderabad team topped the leaue standings after each of the eight teams played 14 matches.
After watching Rashid Khan mesmerise the KKR, not only his team SRH but everyone will be looking at him to take the final to greater heights. He is the IPL star of this season.
Both the teams are owned by corporates from Chennai, CSK by a cement giant and the Hyderabad-based Sunrisers by an electronic media moghul, who runs a variety of television channels in all South Indian languages and radio stations.
Unlike some other franchisees, the owners of the two teams are not visible, CSK after the match-fixing scandal involving one its co-owners, leading to to its suspension for two years.
When the two meet in the final at the Wankhede Stadium, it would be a second time in a week, having also played the first qualifier there. The two best teams will be playing the final, SRH's four successive losses before playing KKR on Friday night notwithstanding.
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If SRH have a balanced attack with Bhuvaneshwar Kumar leading with his pace, though he is still not his best after an injury lay-off midway through the season, and two world-class spinners, CSK, too, have a good mix of pace and spin.
While CSK's batting line-up has a formidable look, SRH heavily dependent on their captain Kane Williamson and opener Shikhar Dhawan for putting up a challenging total.
Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni have risen to the occasion at different times to make sure the CSK either put up a big score or chase one.
The big difference between the two sides is the way SRH defended low totals more than once with their two overseas spinners, Afghan leg-spinner Rashid and Bangladesh left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan taking crucial wickets even when their opponents got a rollicking start, like it happened at the Eden Gardens on Friday.
