Time: October 23, 7:30 PM IST
Venue: Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
Pitch report
The chasing team has won the last two games, attaining scores of 172 and 180. The pitch may not be as batsman friendly as it was earlier, but the bowlers haven’t been having a great time. Here’s a fantasy tip: pick pacers who have off-cutters in their armoury.
Players news
Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan picked up injuries in their last game, but there is no confirmed news about their unavailability. We have provided their possible replacements in the probable XIs.
Power players
Quinton de Kock has scored four fifties in the last five games. With 322 runs in 9 matches, he is the highest run-scorer for Mumbai. In the only game he has played at Sharjah, he scored 67 off 39 including four 4s and as many 6s. Of all the players in tonight’s contest, he is the safest option for captaincy in fantasy cricket.
Faf du Plessis has not been as brutal of late as he was at the start of the tournament. He has managed a mere fifty in the last five games, while the remaining four scores read 17, 8, 0, and 10. However, at Sharjah he has scores of 72 and 58 this season.
Jasprit Bumrah has taken three 2-wicket, one 3-wicket, and one 4-wicket haul in 9 matches, going wicketless only twice. Given Sharjah has been a paradise for the batsmen, his toe-crushing yorkers will be handy.
Rohit Sharma flashed at a wide delivery in Mumbai’s only game at Sharjah – the game in which he was expected to go bonkers and put up a Hitman special for us. Although the wicket at Sharjah has slowed down a bit since then, the ground’s dimensions remain small. Rohit’s timing should be enough to send the ball onto the streets. He has scored 260 runs at a strike rate of 129, including two half-centuries.
Smart picks
Sam Curran and Deepak Chahar have taken 10 wickets each in 10 matches, while Shardul Thakur has taken 9 wickets in 7 matches. The fact that Curran opens the innings these days makes him an MVP on online fantasy apps.
Trent Boult was adjudged the Man of the Match at Sharjah for his impressive figures of 2 for 28. Overall, he has taken 12 wickets in 9 games.
Rahul Chahar has taken 5 wickets in the last three games, maintaining an economy of under 7.5 RPO. His leg-spinners will be crucial in the middle-overs on a relatively sluggish pitch.
Ambati Rayudu has four scores in excess of 30 in the last five innings. In the previous match against Mumbai, it was his 71-run knock that gave Chennai their first win against Rohit’s team since 2018.
Probable XIs
Chennai: Faf du Plessis, Shane Watson, N Jagadeesan/Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (c and wk), Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Karn Sharma/KM Asif, Josh Hazlewood/Imran Tahir
Mumbai: Quinton de Kock (wk), Rohit Sharma (c)/Chris Lynn, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan/Saurabh Tiwary, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile/Dhawal Kulkarni, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
