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Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have won the toss and decided to field against the hosts Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in a thrilling "Southern Derby" clash at the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026.
The high-voltage Southern Derby between the two franchises is being played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Saturday. The five-time champions Super Kings are arriving in this contest after securing two consecutive victories against Delhi Capitals (23 runs) and Kolkata Knight Riders (32 runs). Sunrisers also won their previous contest against the inaugural champions, the Rajasthan Royals, by 57 runs. Speaking after the toss, CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad indicated that the team prefers chasing on what he termed a "belter" of a pitch. "We are going to bowl first. Looks like a really good track, won't change much, so we look to chase. Good to be up from the bottom. From the second game, we started doing the basics right. The key is to be consistent. Last game, I felt Noor bowled really well and good to have him back on track and even Anshul bowling really well at the death. In your language, it looks like a belter, but we have to assess it," Gaikwad said. Speaking after the toss, SRH captain Ishan Kishan stressed team-first performances and the importance of adapting to conditions early in the innings. "I think we would have batted first. Looks like a good wicket, so we want to put up a good total. You have to bat for the team and not for individual performances. We just have to take it game by game, and it doesn't matter where we are right now because it's a long tournament. I think the ball is going to move a bit in the beginning, and the batters have to watch the ball and play well. Dilshan Madushanka comes in for Harsh Dubey for more swing upfront," Kishan said. Teams: Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (captain), Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora (wicketkeeper), Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shivang Kumar, Praful Hinge, Sakib Hussain, Eshan Malinga. Sunrisers Hyderabad (Impact Subs): Smaran Ravichandran, Harsh Dubey, Liam Livingstone, Dilshan Madushanka, Harshal Patel. Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Sarfaraz Khan, Shivam Dube, Dewald Brevis, Jamie Overton, Matthew Short, Anshul Kambok, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Gurjapneet Singh. Chennai Super Kings (Impact Subs): Ayush Mhatre, Kartik Sharma, Prashant Veer, Ramakrishna Ghosh, Matt Henry. (ANI)
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