The Chennai Super Kings will open their IPL campaign this year with their first game against the Deccan Chargers at home. The game, which will be played at the M Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai will be Chargers’ second game, after their first-match loss to the Kolkata Knight Riders.

The Chargers are the defending champions, and had an off-day first-up against the Knight Riders. However, they will now be against a much stronger opponent, the Super Kings – at least on paper -  and the hosts’ balance will be something of a challenge for the Deccan side. Chennai go into the game as favourites – 5/6 at Sky Bet – but only just, as Bwin offers 6/5 for the Chargers to record their first win in the tournament.

Like most of the games, Adam Gilchrist (11/4 at Sky Bet to top-score again for the Chargers) blazed away at the top of the order against Kolkata, but did not have the requisite support from the rest of the order. It must be said that if the Chargers need to recover the lost ground, they will have to eschew the loose stroke that were in abundance against Kolkata.

Both, Andrew Symonds (5/1 at Stan James to be the best scorer) and Herschelle Gibbs (4/1 at Stan James to top-score for the Chargers) played shots that were hardly needed at that stage, while Rohit Sharma (11/2 at Sky Bet to top-score for Deccan) would have kicked himself on numerous occasions after having forehanded a catch away off the bowler. 

One also gets the sense that Venugopal Rao (14/1 at Sky Bet to top-score for the Chargers) who was missing from the first game, could make his comeback into the side for this one to add solidity down the order.

Against the Chargers, there will be a rampaging Mathew Hayden, who holds the Orange Cap from last season for the most number of runs scored in the tournament. He is at 6/4 (Ladbrokes) to repeat his previous season’s exploits and end the tournament as the top run-getter. He is also the favourite to top-score for Chennai in this game – 5/2 at Stan James – while Suresh Raina, another talented batsman who made his re-entry into the Indian team thanks to the IPL is second placed at 7/2 (Stan James)

Tips:
Favourites: Chennai (5/6 at Sky Bet)
Top Chennai batsman: Mathew Hayden (5/2 at Stan James)
Top Deccan batsman: Andrew Symonds (5/1 at Stan James)