<p> After reaching the group stages at the expense of defending Champions League T20 champions, Mumbai Indians, the task has seemed to get harder for Pakistani outfit Lahore Lions.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Their immediate reward for qualifying into the main rounds of the tournament was a meeting with current IPL champions, Kolkata Knight Riders – a match which they lost in the last over.<br /><br />Their baptism by fire continues here on Thursday at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium as their next opponents in Group A are Chennai Super Kings, the big daddy of T20 cricket. CSK’s honours list would easily run for a couple of pages, such has been their mastery of the format. But they are notoriously slow starters.<br /><br />While the Indian Premier League offers teams a chance to regain lost ground, the CLT20 has a more unforgiving environment where two consecutive losses might seal a team’s fate. <br /><br />And Chennai, who have lost and won one so far in the tournament, will hope to get the job done to avoid getting trapped in a plethora of permutations and combinations at the business end of the league stage.<br /><br />After a loss against KKR in their opening match, the Chennai batsmen – who have so often bailed them out of sticky situations – once again fired to set them on their way against the Dolphins on Monday. But the Lions bowlers - who have not conceded more than 170 runs in the four matches they have played thus far - may not be as easy to put away as the Dolphins. <br /><br />In Aizaz Cheema, one of the standout bowlers in this edition so far with 10 wickets to his name, they have a pacer of genuine ability. He is well supported by fellow pacer Wahab Riaz, spinner Adnan Rasool, who is in the mix despite being reported for a suspect action in the last match against KKR, and skipper Mohammad Hafeez. <br /><br />In contrast, CSK's bowling - dodgy at the best of times - do have a problem in the death overs. And that Achilles Heel returned to haunt them against KKR in the first match when Andre Russell smashed his way to a blistering half-century to take them home with six balls remaining. <br /><br />The match could well be decided between CSK's batsmen, who went through the gears like a SUV on a highway in their last match against the Dolphins, and the Lions bowlers. However, all that might be reduced to a mere footnote if the weather, which has been up and down in the last few days, decides to play spoilsport. And the morrow’s forecast - prediction of a 90 per cent chance of heavy thunderstorms - isn't good. <br /></p>
<p> After reaching the group stages at the expense of defending Champions League T20 champions, Mumbai Indians, the task has seemed to get harder for Pakistani outfit Lahore Lions.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Their immediate reward for qualifying into the main rounds of the tournament was a meeting with current IPL champions, Kolkata Knight Riders – a match which they lost in the last over.<br /><br />Their baptism by fire continues here on Thursday at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium as their next opponents in Group A are Chennai Super Kings, the big daddy of T20 cricket. CSK’s honours list would easily run for a couple of pages, such has been their mastery of the format. But they are notoriously slow starters.<br /><br />While the Indian Premier League offers teams a chance to regain lost ground, the CLT20 has a more unforgiving environment where two consecutive losses might seal a team’s fate. <br /><br />And Chennai, who have lost and won one so far in the tournament, will hope to get the job done to avoid getting trapped in a plethora of permutations and combinations at the business end of the league stage.<br /><br />After a loss against KKR in their opening match, the Chennai batsmen – who have so often bailed them out of sticky situations – once again fired to set them on their way against the Dolphins on Monday. But the Lions bowlers - who have not conceded more than 170 runs in the four matches they have played thus far - may not be as easy to put away as the Dolphins. <br /><br />In Aizaz Cheema, one of the standout bowlers in this edition so far with 10 wickets to his name, they have a pacer of genuine ability. He is well supported by fellow pacer Wahab Riaz, spinner Adnan Rasool, who is in the mix despite being reported for a suspect action in the last match against KKR, and skipper Mohammad Hafeez. <br /><br />In contrast, CSK's bowling - dodgy at the best of times - do have a problem in the death overs. And that Achilles Heel returned to haunt them against KKR in the first match when Andre Russell smashed his way to a blistering half-century to take them home with six balls remaining. <br /><br />The match could well be decided between CSK's batsmen, who went through the gears like a SUV on a highway in their last match against the Dolphins, and the Lions bowlers. However, all that might be reduced to a mere footnote if the weather, which has been up and down in the last few days, decides to play spoilsport. And the morrow’s forecast - prediction of a 90 per cent chance of heavy thunderstorms - isn't good. <br /></p>
