Mumbai Indians are riding high, having equaled their longest winning streak in the IPL. They began the season with a defeat against this very opponent, but have since posted six consecutive wins. In their most-recent outing, they defeated the Delhi Daredevils in a low-scoring contest. Seldom has one seen such intensity from a bowling and fielding side in the IPL as one saw from MI.
After a 5-day break, the Supergiants were back in action with a much-needed win and defeated the defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad at home. With a bounce-back win against SRH, RPS is ready to take on Mumbai Indians who are on the top of the list with 6 back-to-back wins so far in IPL 10. Each and everyone had questioned about MS Dhoni’s poor performance until the last match but his brilliant knock of 61 off 34 balls helped his team win the match against SRH.
MI vs. RPS Head to Head –
Matches played – 3
Mumbai Indians won -1
Rising Pune Supergiants won – 2
MI journey so far-
Played – 7
Won- 6
Lost -1
After losing the opening game against Rising Pune Supergiant, Mumbai Indians might have got a sense of feeling the present situation. But instead of going on a losing streak as they have done in the past few seasons, they have gone on a six-game winning streak that has put them within touching distance of making it to the play-off. Today, they will take on the only side that has beaten them in this year’s competition in the hopes of exact revenge and extending their winning streak.
Batting- MI are operating like a well-oiled machine. Though MI have all departments doing the job as per expectations, the one person who has made critical contributions to the team’s success is their one-drop batsman Nitish Rana. The left-hander is the team’s top run-getter this season and has scored three half-centuries in the team’s six wins. Jos Buttler has got starts in five of the six innings this season but gone past the 50-run mark only once. The Englishman is an extremely dangerous player, and the longer he stays in the crease, the more damage he can do to the opposition.
Bowling- With the ball, keep an eye out on the Mitchell Johnson and Mitchell McClenaghan. The former bowled well in his maiden outing this season, while the latter has come back strongly after a poor start to the tournament. Harbhajan Singh has bowled beautifully without getting the returns he deserves, while RPS’ highest wicket-taker Imran Tahir is always in the thick of things.
Probable XI: PA Patel (wk), JC Buttler, N Rana, Rohit Sharma (C), KA Pollard, H Pandya, K Pandya, Harbhajan Singh, MJ McClenaghan, SL Malinga, JJ Bumrah.
RPS journey so far-
Played – 6
Won- 3
Lost -3
Rising Pune Supergiant must be riding a high too after their thrilling last-ball chase against Sunrisers Hyderabad. The opening batsman Rahul Tripathi set up the chase with his maiden T20 half-century, while MS Dhoni finished the chase in style, accelerating at the right time and taking his team over the line by scoring a boundary off the last ball.
Batting- Ajinkya Rahane has had hot and cold tournament; but he will be playing at the Wankhede Stadium, a venue where he has played plenty of cricket from his childhood and he will look to get a good one on his home ground. Opener Rahul Tripathi has had three good outings and the 26-year old will look to add more runs to his tally on what has generally been a very sportive surface at the Wankhede Stadium. The captain Steven Smith will be another important player in RPS’ scheme of things.
Bowling- The performance of the RPS bowlers continues to be a worry; the team has continuously leaked runs at the death – especially in the last two overs, and that is an area the team will have to come up with massive improvements in if they are to be serious playoff contenders.
Probable XI: Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Tripathi, Steven Smith (C), Manoj Tiwary, MS Dhoni (wk), Ben Stokes, Daniel Christian, Shardul Thakur, Jaydev Unadkat, Rahul Chahar, Imran Tahir.
MI vs. RPS Match Predictions-
Against Mitchell McClenaghan, Steven Smith has scored at a strike-rate of 150 in the IPL, while Ajinkya Rahane has gone even better, scoring at the strike-rate of 162.50. That is another matchup to keep an eye on when RPS come out to bat.
OUR WINNER – Mumbai Indians
WHY?
- Earlier, MI played two matches on April 24 (Sachin Birthday) and have celebrated the day with victories on both occasions.
- Mumbai Indians are undefeated in their last six matches at the Wankhede Stadium.
- Consistent in All departments (Batting, Bowling, Fielding)
MI vs. RPS Score prediction –
First batting:
MI – 170-185
RPS –170-180
Our Star performers Today-
Jos Buttler, Rohit Sharma, Pollard, H Pandya
Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni, Ben Stokes, Imran Tahir