Afridi returns as Deccan bat

Shahid Afridi gets a final opportunity to delight the Hyderabad crowd...
Although he lost the toss, Mahendra Singh Dhoni got what he wished for as Deccan Chargers chose to bat in Hyderabad. The game is crucial for the Chennai Super Kings: a win will make them the fourth team to go through to the semi-finals, while a loss will leave their fate hanging on the result of the Mumbai Indians-Bangalore Royal Challengers clash.

The pitch is expected to be conducive for run-scoring, and Dhoni said he would be more comfortable with a target to chase. However, he will be wary of the Deccan batsmen - they haven't fired in unison yet, and today will be the last opportunity for the likes of Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs and Shahid Afridi to delight their home fans and win their first game in seven attempts in Hyderabad. Deccan, though, will be without Rohit Sharma, who hasn't recovered from a finger injury he suffered in their last game. Chaminda Vaas, Sanjay Bangar and Chamara Silva are the other omissions from the XI that played Bangalore on Sunday as Afridi, Sarvesh Kumar and Pragyan Ojha return.

Chennai came excruciatingly close during their chase of a big score against the Rajasthan Royals, and Dhoni has kept faith in his team and not made any changes. However, they conceded 211 in their last match against Rajasthan, and Dhoni would hope his bowlers can keep the Deccan batsmen to a much lesser score.

Teams
Chennai Super Kings: 1 Parthiv Patel (wk), Stephen Fleming, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Albie Morkel, 5 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt), 6 S Badrinath, 7 Abhinav Mukund, 8 Manpreet Gony, 9 L Balaji, 10, Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Makhaya Ntini.

Deccan Chargers: 1 Adam Gilchrist (capt & wk), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Shahid Afridi, 4 Venugopal Rao, 5 Scott Styris, 6 Ravi Teja, 7 Arjun Yadav, 8 Pragyan Ojha, 9 Sarvesh Kumar, 10 RP Singh, 11 P Vijaykumar.