Deadline: May 1, 7:30 PM IST
Chennai don’t let teams dominate them. After all, they have played the most number of finals in the Indian T20 League. MS Dhoni often comes up with some tricks and hence Chennai are one of the most difficult teams to beat. However, Mumbai haven’t had to break much sweat against Chennai lately. The defending champions have edged past Dhoni’s men in 6 of the last 8 matches.
Be that as it may, Chennai are at the top of the points table this season, while Mumbai are at the fourth position. The kind of success that Mumbai tasted last year, Chennai are experiencing in this edition.
Probable XIs
Mumbai: Quinton de Kock (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
Chennai: Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi
Fantasy team
We have opted for a fantasy cricket team based on recent performances, impact, and credit points.
Pitch report
The pitch is flat as you can get in the subcontinent. There’s rarely any swing in the powerplay and the finger spinners haven’t had a good time bowling on it. Both Mumbai and Chennai successfully chased 172 runs against Hyderabad and Rajasthan respectively in their previous games at Delhi.
There, however, is some zip for the wrist-spinners. Although Rahul Chahar leaked runs, he managed to turn the ball enough and eventually collected 2 wickets. Chennai dropped Imran Tahir in the previous contest, but they might give it a second thought. They need a strike bowler in the middle overs, when batting becomes easier.
Swashbuckling openers
The opening batsmen of both teams are in incredible form. Quinton de Kock could not get going on the sluggish wicket of Chennai, but he cannot ask for a better wicket now. The Delhi pitch suits his style of game. He remained unbeaten on 70 earlier this week.
For Chennai, Ruturaj Gaikwad’s 75 off 44 propelled them to a comfortable win. His last three scores read 64, 33, and 75.
Partnering with these two belligerent batsmen are the experienced warhorses Rohit Sharma and Faf du Plessis.
You have no option but to pick these four in your fantasy cricket teams. It’s going to rain boundaries on the weekend.
Match prediction
Chennai have a slight edge over Mumbai, especially if they bowl first. The dew in the second innings will make matters worse for Rahul Chahar who has been Mumbai’s strike bowler so far. Krunal Pandya and Jayant Yadav were effective in Chennai, but there isn’t much on offer for them at Delhi. Mumbai thus have to rely on the pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, and Nathan Coulter-Nile.
For Chennai, Lungi Ngidi takes up the workload in the middle overs. He likes to mix things up and hence ends up taking wickets, and although Shardul Thakur may have been out of sorts of late, his spirit and confidence haven’t dented it.
Chennai’s concern, however, will be their opening bowlers. Deepak Chahar and Sam Curran could not get enough swing, and to make matters worse for them, they lack pace. This is where Mumbai are ahead. Boult and Bumrah have enough pace and experience to outfox the best of batsmen in the powerplay as well as at the death.
While Chennai lack speed in the powerplay, Mumbai are short on options in the middle-overs.
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