The Rajasthan Royals are set to face off against the MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings in Ahmedabad on Sunday afternoon. While both teams have been unbeaten the Pepsi Indian Premier League 2015, the MS Dhoni-led side come into the game on the back off a comprehensive win over the Mumbai Indians. “It should be a good game. Both teams are playing some good cricket, and haven’t lost a game so far in the tournament,” RR pacer Tim Southee said while addressing the media. The Royals will have their task cut out when they take the field against one of the most powerful lineups of the tournament. Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith have been setting-up games for CSK while Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni and the rest of the middle-order are apt at finishing matches. Speaking about the CSK lineup, the speedster said, “They are a very good side, they have got some good batters, not only at the top but all the way through. There are a very good batting side. We will have to come up with some plans to try and minimise the damage early on.” “Obviously, McCullum comes very hard early on, and has had a great last year or so. So it is going to be very important to try and stop him early on,” he said about the New Zealand captain. He further added, “But it’s not only him, Dwayne Smith as well. He is a very dangerous player. We have got footage; we will look at it try and come up with some plans to take early wickets.” Asked if he fancies his chances against McCullum, Southee replied, “We will wait and see. It will be a good one to get, but he is obviously in good form and has played some good cricket, not only in the IPL but during the World Cup and before that. He will be hard to stop but I am sure we will try and come up with plans to grab him early.” Discussing his bowling and whether IPL has added to his variations, the bowler said, “With the wickets being pretty good, the batsmen are hitting the ball further and playing a lot more shots as every year goes by. So the bowlers have to adapt and become more skillful and I think that means using more variations and having a different skill set. I think you see nowadays the bowlers bowling a lot of variations, a lot of different types of variations.” One of the variations that had yielded results for the pacers is the slower ball, but batsmen seem to be picking those out. Reflecting on it, Southee said, “I think the batsmen are picking up (the slower deliveries). With the way the wickets are, as a bowler you need to adapt to the conditions and use different variations that are suited to the wickets. I think batsmen do pick it up because they are facing a lot more variations these days.” Asked if that was frustrating for the bowlers, he said, “When a batsman is going berserk, it creates a lot of chances as well. So I think if you can bowl in the right areas, then (you force) the batsmen (to) come to you, there is also chance to take wickets.” Although RR too have been holding their nerve and getting across the line they have been without their captain Shane Watson. Speaking about the all-rounder’s status and if he will be available for Sunday’s contest, Southee said, “Not too sure, you have got to ask the medical team. I think he trained the last couple of days, so we have to wait and see.”