After five defeats in the UAE leg, the Mumbai Indians are back in the winning fold, thanks to their Wankhede fortress as they try to add another victory as MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings.
After five defeats in the UAE leg, the Mumbai Indians are back in the winning fold, thanks to their Wankhede fortress as they try to add another victory as MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings come visiting in an high octane IPL encounter on Saturday. This game will be crucial for Mumbai Indians as another victory could lift the Men in Blue in the league table than their southern rivals who are sitting pretty at no. 2 on the points table with six wins from eight games.
Rohit Sharma’s side’s fortunes turned upside down when arriving in Mumbai that included back-to-back victories over table toppers Kings XI Punjab and against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede that has brought them right back into the contention for the four play-off berths. However, a defeat on Saturday would virtually derail Mumbai`s quest for the final four berth and would have to depend on other results.
Mumbai would be eager to carry their winning momentum with captain Rohit Sharma and West Indian powerhouse Kieron Pollard in prime form. Sharma, who made a superb 59 not out, and Pollard (43) put on a century partnership for the fifth wicket against Bangalore in Mumbai`s previous game. Other Mumbai batsmen like Ambati Rayudu and Corey Anderson have got starts but could count them into big scores while wicket-keeper batsman Chidambaram Gautam has surprised everyone at the top.
Super Kings on the other hand, have batsmen too that are in blistering form. Kiwi skipper Brendon McCullum and West Indian hard-hitter Dwayne Smith have tormented opposition bowlers at the top of the order while the likes of Suresh Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni have also contributed with the bat when required. Both the sides have a well balanced bowling line-up but Mumbai have an advantage with Lasith Malinga being an expert in this format. If Mumbai have former Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh to bank upon, Chennai have their spin twins – Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin to do the job.
Teams:
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (C), Lasith Malinga, Kieron Pollard, Harbhajan Singh, Ambati Rayudu, Michael Hussey, Pragyan Ojha, Corey Anderson, Praveen Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, CM Gautam, Aditya Tare, Apoorv Wankhade, Marchant de Lange, Krishmar Santokie, Ben Dunk, Pawan Suyal, Sushant Marathe, Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Gopal, Lendl Simmons.
Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C), Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Faf du Plessis, Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Smith, Ashish Nehra, Mohit Sharma, Samuel Badree, Ben Hilfenhaus, Matt Henry, B Aparajith, Mithun Manhas, Ishwar Pandey, Pawan Negi, Vijay Shankar, Ronit More, John Hastings.
