Ranchi: All but assured of a berth in the play-offs, Chennai Super Kings will be aiming to quickly get over their shock loss against Kolkata Knight Riders when they take on an unpredictable Sunrisers Hyderabad in an IPL match here Thursday.

Chennai are currently second in the table with 16 points from eight wins and four losses in 12 matches. Hyderabad, on the other hand, are third from bottom with 10 points after managing just five wins in their 12 games.

It was a rare off day for Chennai when they succumbed to a loss against KKR on Tuesday night in Kolkata. The unexpected defeat was the result of some poor batting and Chennai will look to ensure that the batting line-up is high on confidence ahead of the knockout stage matches.

Openers Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum, both of whom have contributed well to CSK’s campaign so far, failed to get going on Tuesday and will be aiming to make amends.

On a positive note, Suresh Raina pulled off his third 50 of this IPL season and looks to be peaking at just the right time. Faf du Plessis, however, remains a slight concern as he is yet to come up with a noteworthy knock for his side.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, on the other hand, has been going about his job without much hullabaloo even though he is without a half-century this season.

Despite the absence of a big knock, Dhoni is averaging 44.60 — the best by a Chennai player in this IPL — and his tally of runs reads 223 in 12 innings, including seven unbeaten knocks.

On the bowling front, some of Chennai’s frailties stood exposed after reliable pacer Mohit Sharma failed to fetch a wicket.

Mohit has been the bowling star for Chennai this season, having taken 18 wickets at an impressive average of 15.22. He is currently second in the highest wicket-takers’ list in this season.

After the defeat to Kolkata, Chennai coach Stephen Fleming said: “It was a bad day, we played poorly. We scraped pretty hard with the bat and 155 to 160 wasn’t a bad score on that wicket. But in bowling and fielding we were well off, dropping catches of key players, including Uthappa, who made us pay and took away the game from us very quickly.

“They played really well but I can’t help the feeling that we let them in to the game in the first few overs, allowing them a good start. They heavily rely on their openers and we really helped their cause.

“It’s more of the attitude that hurt us... we were a bit soft. When things don’t go our way, we intimidate our way in. But that attitude was not there, which is unlike CSK, but the positive is we have qualified for the knockouts.”