Pune, May 4 (IANS): Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni has won the toss and elected to bowl first against Royal Challengers Bangalore in match 49 of the IPL 2022 at MCA Stadium on Wednesday.

In the last match between these two teams in IPL 2022 on April 12, Chennai won by 23 runs on the back of an unbeaten 95 from Shivam Dube and 88 from Robin Uthappa in posting 216/4 in 20 overs.

After winning the toss, Dhoni revealed that off-spin all-rounder Moeen Ali comes into the playing eleven in place of left-arm spin all-rounder Mitchell Santner.

"It (the ball) stops a bit initially. And it's one of the venues where toss doesn't matter much because it's an open ground so the dew sets in pretty late. We have had partnerships and we want to be more consistent. We have the skill-set to bat first as well as chase," stated Dhoni.

Royal Challengers Bangalore captain Faf du Plessis said his eleven was unchanged from their six-wicket loss to Gujarat Titans. He had some observations about the pitch used for the third time in the tournament. "We weren't sure and were considering batting first. It looks a better wicket."

"The last game (against Gujarat) we made some steps, good batting performance, probably 10 runs short. But it was definitely the confidence we wanted to see in the guys coming in and scoring," added du Plessis.

Playing XIs

Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (captain & wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali, Dwaine Pretorius, Maheesh Theekshana, Simarjeet Singh and Mukesh Choudhary

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis (captain), Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Shahbaz Ahmed, Mahipal Lomror, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj and Josh Hazlewood