Chennai, May 1 (IANS): Punjab Kings have won the toss and elected to bowl first against defending champions Chennai Super Kings, who will be playing without fast-bowlers Matheesha Pathirana and Tushar Deshpande, in Match 49 of IPL 2024 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, here on Wednesday evening.

While CSK are at fourth place in the points table with 10 points from nine games, PBKS are placed at eighth place with six points from matches. PBKS, who set a record for highest chase ever in T20s by chasing down 262 against Kolkata Knight Riders, have a 4-0 record in their last four matches against CSK in the IPL.

After winning the toss, PBKS captain Sam Curran said his playing eleven is unchanged, which means there is still no Shikhar Dhawan. “Looks like a good surface (to bowl first), new wicket and we're excited after that last match. An amazing stadium and an amazing crowd, we'll have to start well and take early wickets. We'll take the confidence from that chase of 261. It's just about fight and determination, they're a good team, but we need to be brave.”

CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad said while Pathirana has a slight niggle, Deshpande isn't well. In place of the duo, Shardul Thakur and Richard Gleeson, the England fast-bowler, drafted in as a replacement for injured Devon Conway, are included.

Gleeson is making his IPL debut through Wednesday’s match, which is also final game of this season for left-arm fast-bowler Mustafizur Rahman, as he will link up with Bangladesh team for the T20Is against Zimbabwe.

“We would have fielded first, but we weren't exactly sure. Always tough defending here with a lot of dew, but the fact that we won by 78 runs shows a lot about the team. We'll have to get there early and make a good score. Every game is important,” said Gaikwad.

Playing XIs

Chennai Super Kings: Ajinkya Rahane, Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Daryl Mitchell, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (wicketkeeper), Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Richard Gleeson and Mustafizur Rahman

Substitutes: Sameer Rizvi, Mukesh Choudhary, Simarjeet Singh, Shaik Rasheed and Prashant Solanki

Punjab Kings: Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran (captain), Rilee Rossouw, Shashank Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar and Arshdeep Singh

Substitutes: Prabhsimran Singh, Liam Livingstone, Rishi Dhawan, Vidhwath Kaverappa and Harpreet Singh Bhatia