Two heavy weight teams will come face to face with each other when Mumbai Indians host Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday night. The visitors, led by their charismatic skipper MS Dhoni, come here in good heart having won all three of their matches thus far. In fact, they are the only unbeaten team in the tournament so far and that tells a lot about how strong the defending champions are. All three of their victories so far have been comprehensive. First they bowled out Bengaluru at home for a paltry 70 runs, a clinical victory followed next against Delhi at Kotla and then the hat-trick of victories was completed with the win over Rajasthan at Chepauk once again.
Mumbai, on the other hand, have struggled despite being a well rounded side. They lost their first match at home against Delhi. Rishabh Pant totally smashed their bowlers all around the park. They won a controversial match next against Bengaluru which saw a last over no-ball not being called, and then they ended up losing once again to Punjab at Mohali.
As they gear up to take on Chennai, at home once again, they would look to be more disciplined in bowling. They have let the momentum go while batting during the middle overs. So, that is something they will look to address. If they can mend these two problems, they could go on to notch up the second win of the season.
Weather and Pitch conditions:
Two heavy weight teams will come face to face with each other when Mumbai Indians host Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday night. The visitors, led by their charismatic skipper MS Dhoni, come here in good heart having won all three of their matches thus far. In fact, they are the only unbeaten team in the tournament so far and that tells a lot about how strong the defending champions are. All three of their victories so far have been comprehensive. First they bowled out Bengaluru at home for a paltry 70 runs, a clinical victory followed next against Delhi at Kotla and then the hat-trick of victories was completed with the win over Rajasthan at Chepauk once again.
Mumbai, on the other hand, have struggled despite being a well rounded side. They lost their first match at home against Delhi. Rishabh Pant totally smashed their bowlers all around the park. They won a controversial match next against Bengaluru which saw a last over no-ball not being called, and then they ended up losing once again to Punjab at Mohali.
As they gear up to take on Chennai, at home once again, they would look to be more disciplined in bowling. They have let the momentum go while batting during the middle overs. So, that is something they will look to address. If they can mend these two problems, they could go on to notch up the second win of the season.
Weather and Pitch conditions: Weather is expected to remain absolutely clear. Wankhede Stadium is generally a small ground and hence boundaries are easier to clear for batsmen. The pitch also aids batting. So, high scores of around 180 can be expected across both innings.
Player Recommendations:
Wicket-keeper: MS Dhoni (9 Cr)
Dhoni showed what he is capable of in the previous match. He hammered 75 off just 46 deliveries after walking out to bat in a troublesome situation of 27/3. He has been in good form for the last three months and you can expect that to continue in this match.
Batsman: Rohit Sharma (10.5 Cr)
Rohit came up with scores of 32 and 48 in the previous two matches. He looked in good touch mostly and it seems like he is due for a big one.
All-Rounder: Hardik Pandya (9.5 Cr)
He has played two good cameos of 30+ so far, one of which turned out to be a match winning one. He just needs to step up with his bowling now. If he does that, he could be in for a big haul.
Bowler: Jasprit Bumrah (9.5 Cr)
Bumrah is the only Mumbai bowler who has been good thus far. He was the main reason why they won the match against Bangalore. His death bowling ability is unmatched and you can expect him to rattle some more stumps this match.
Captain: Rohit Sharma
Vice-Captain: Hardik Pandya
Predicted XI:
Chennai Super Kings: Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir
Mumbai Indians: Quinton de Kock, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Yuvraj Singh, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Mitchell McClenaghan, Mayank Markande, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga
