After scripting an incredible finish in their last game to earn a place at the play-offs, defending champions Mumbai Indians will be high on spirits as they go against two-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings in the IPL eliminator on Wednesday.
After scripting an incredible finish in their last game to earn a place at the play-offs, defending champions Mumbai Indians will be high on spirits as they go against two-time IPL champions Chennai Super Kings in the IPL eliminator on Wednesday.
Mumbai Indians, who sealed a berth at the play-offs by virtue of a better net run rate after producing an impossible run chase against Rajasthan Royals on Sunday, would look to continue in the same vein against a formidable CSK side at Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium. Kiwi all-rounder Corey Anderson finally came to the party as he conjured up an astonishing 44-ball 95 to single-handedly power the Mumbai side into the IPL play-offs as the hosts rattled Rajasthan Royals by five wickets. Requiring to chase down a 190-run target within 14.3 overs, Mumbai Indians overhauled the target in just 14.4 overs.
Mumbai seems to have put their opening woes behind, with a successful combination of former Australian player Michael Hussey and West Indian Lendl Simmons, who has scored the only century so far in this season’s IPL. Ambati Rayudu and skipper Rohit Sharma have been in good touch and the middle-order with the hard-hitting Corey Anderson and West Indian all-rounder Kieron Pollard completing the formalities.
Mumbai`s bowling attack looks weak in the absence of Lasith Malinga but Jasprit Bumrah has done well so far with the MI side. The addition of young Karnataka leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal with off-spinner Harbhajan Singh have combined well to pluck wickets crucial intervals.
Chennai, on the other hand, ended their three-match losing streak with a comfortable eight-win win against the Royal Challengers on Saturday. MS Dhoni’s men won both the league ties against Mumbai this year and they would be eager add another win against a battling Mumbai team. Chennai possess a good batting line-up which includes the lethal opening pair of West Indian Dwayne Smith and New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum. West Indian Smith has amassed 501 runs so far this season, while McCullum has scored 380 runs.
South African Faf du Plessis returned to form in the last game after a string of low scores and the inclusion of David Hussey has strengthened the batting attack. Mohit Sharma has been the pick of the bowlers for the Men in Yellow scalping 18 wickets, while all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja has picked up 16 wickets.
Teams:
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Corey Anderson, Jasprit Bumrah, Marchant de Lange, Ben Dunk, Chidhambaram Gautam, Shreyas Gopal, Harbhajan Singh, Josh Hazlewood, Michael Hussey, Praveen Kumar, Sushant Marathe, Pragyan Ojha, Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Krishmar Santokie, Lendl Simmons, Pawan Suyal, Aditya Tare, Apoorv Wankhade.
Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (c), Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina, David Hussey, Ravindra Jadeja, Mithun Manhas, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishwar Pandey, Mohit Sharma, Samuel Badree, Faf du Plessis, John Hastings, Matt Henry, Ben Hilfenhaus, Ashish Nehra, Baba Aparajith, Pawan Negi, Ronit More and Vijay Shankar.
