After notching a thumping win in their tournament opener, Chennai Super Kings are favourites to register another victory when they take on Sri Lanka's Wayamba Elevens in the Champions League Twenty20 match at the Centurion on Wednesday.
Chennai had a fantastic start to the tournament, thrashing Central Districts by 57 runs. It was not a very convincing performance with the bat though as the top-order let the team down.
Big-hitters like Matthew Hayden and Suresh Raina are crucial to the team's chances of posting big totals or chasing stiff targets, and the duo will look to strike form early when they step on the pitch on Wednesday.
If they can give the team a strong start, Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side has enough firepower in the lower half to take the team to a good total. The hard-hitters in the lower half include Albie Morkel and Dhoni himself.
Their bowling is no less impressive, with Aussie pace ace Doug Bollinger and Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan in their ranks.
Laxmipathy Balaji was also impressive, with an economical three-wicket haul, in the opening match against Central Districts.
Wayamba, on the other hand, put up a decent batting effort in their opening match, but fell short with the ball against South African domestic champion side Warriors.
Mahela Jayawardene, arguably the biggest star in the line-up, was off-colour in the lung-opener. He was dismissed for a duck, but lesser-known faces like Jeevantha Kulatunga and Kushal Perera rose to the occasion.
And the side will need to put up another spirited show to have a chance of upstaging the star-studded Chennai.
Wayamba's bowling has some recognisable names like mystery spinner Ajantha Mendis and pacers Farveez Maharoof and Chanaka Welegedara, but they did not quite live up to expectations in the opening match.
In the other match of the day, Central Districts face off against Victoria Bushrangers at the same venue, both the teams hoping to open their account in the tournament.
Central Districts collapsed against Chennai, while Victoria were beaten by the Warriors.
Central Districts were thoroughly outplayed in the opening match and will have to raise their game by several notches to match David Hussey's Victoria, who despite being beaten in their opening match, should be a handful for the Kiwi team.
