Super Sunday brings double excitement
MI VS SRH AT MUMBAI
TEAM INFO – This is an opportunity for both these teams to forget about everything that has happened through the season and finish on a high. Mumbai have an opportunity to qualify, which depends on others’ performance, hence thinking a lot about it is of no use and its best if the game is enjoyed and, in the process, if things work your way, then why not?
QUALIFICATION CRITERIA –
SRH are eliminated and this win would mean that they would not finish on the last spot. MI are in a complicated situation. The only way that they can qualify is if, MI win this game and RCB lose the last game. If Mumbai lose this game, they are out of the contention with their poor NRR.
PREVIOUS ENCOUNTER – Both these teams clashed in the 25th match of this year’s IPL at Hyderabad. Put into bat first, Mumbai piled up 192/5 on back of Cameron Green’s 64 not out and Tilak Varma’s 37. On a batting paradise, Mayank Agarwal played a slow 48 as wickets fell around him. Although a blistering knock of 36 from Henrich Klassen did bring SRH back into the game for a while, but after his wicket, the teams couldn’t stand to the scoreboard pressure and collapsed to 178 all out, falling short by 14 runs.
Head-to-head - Played - 20; Won by MI – 11; Won by SRH – 9
MI possible 12 – R Sharma, I Kishan, C Green, S Yadav, N Wadhera, T David, H Shokeen, C Jordan, P Chawla, J Behrendorff, A Madhwal, V Vinod.
SRH possible 12 – A Sharma, R Tripathi, A Markram, H Klassen, H Brooks, G Philips, A Samad, K Tyagi, M Dagar, B Kumar, U Malik, T Natarajan, M Markande.
Pitch & Weather Report – The pitch at Wankhede Stadium is a wonderful track to bat on. The batters can hit through the line right from the start of their innings. Short boundaries on either side help the batters and fans can expect a high-scoring affair on Sunday. Cloudy afternoon will control the temperature in Mumbai and is expected to hover between 28 to 33 degrees Celsius. Last 10 overs would be under lights and dew could play a role in them.
Match Prediction –
Mumbai have finally found their momentum in the later half of the tournament and have caught up with other teams. Although, bowling has been the concern of Mumbai Indians and that’s what has worried them for most of the time.
It is the Mumbai wicket that should generally suit the SRH team’s free flowing and stress-free game play. SRH would come in to express themselves and that could be costly for
Mumbai in a must-win situation.
RCB VS GT AT BENGALURU
TEAM INFO – GT have redefined the way T20 cricket should be played and the combination that they have set since yesterday has been incredible. The role of a jolly coach (Ashish Nehra) and the importance of the captain (Hardik Pandya), to give space to the support staff to plan has been wonderfully portrayed. RCB have been one of the most unpredictable teams and they have stood up to their expectations this year as well. Faf and Kohli have been an incredible opening pair, but the middle order and lower middle order have raised a lot of concern. For a change, their bowling line-up has stood up to the expectations and has done an incredible job.
QUALIFICATION CRITERIA –
GT have already finished the league stage on the first position and that’s going to stay undisturbed, irrespective of the results of this game.
RCB on the other hand will have all the statistics before they get into this match, since it’s the last game of the league. On most occasions, if RCB win their last game, they should be going through, unless and until Mumbai Indians have a big win in the afternoon game. If RCB and MI lose then it could go on to NRR between RCB and RR.
If LSG hadn’t won yesterday then both MI and RCB could have qualified with a win.
Head-to-head - Played - 2; Won by RCB – 1;
RCB possible 12 – V Kohli, F Du Plessis, G Maxwell, M Lomror, A Rawat, S Ahmed, M Bracewell, W Parnell, H Patel, K Sharma, M Siraj, D Karthik
GT possible 12 – S Gill, W Saha, S Sudarshan, H Pandya, D Miller, D Shanaka, R Tewatia, M Sharma, R Khan, M Shami, N Ahmed, Y Dayal
Pitch & Weather Report – The Bengaluru ground is known to be one of the favourite venues for the batters. The true wicket allows the batters to play through the line and the short boundaries give value for miss hit shots as well. Even 220 is not considered to be a safe score. Although there is a 55-per cent chance of rain between 3 pm and 9 pm, which could very well mean that RCB would watch the afternoon game desperately and hope for SRH to win it.
Match Prediction – Gujarat are expected to be the best team in the tournament with their balance and team build-up. Although, since GT have already qualified, it’s most likely that many senior players would be rested and almost a B-team of GT would be given a chance, which would make RCB as favourites to begin with.