Last Updated on 6 years by Charbel Coorey
I must say, I didn’t expect to be writing this with these two teams, especially defending champions Mumbai Indians, winless so far in IPL 2018. While it is still too early to panic, starting the tournament off with three losses is never ideal, and both sides will be out to kickstart their tournament with a win.
Mumbai Indians sit on zero wins, but it’s amazing to think that this could easily be two wins. Their two games have been contrasting in a way, losing from a winning position against CSK, and nearly coming back from the dead against SRH. Coach Shane Bond has spoken of his continued confidence in his team, and how they can still win the tournament. While this is true, they’ll need a little more from their batting, after their bowlers were cause for plenty of encouragement in Hyderabad.
Delhi Daredevils have flown under the radar a little in my opinion, perhaps not in many people’s thoughts when it comes to winning the title. However, this is not to say they are without talent, and this is not to say they can’t make an impact in this tournament. Against Rajasthan, they were unlucky with the rain, and showed improvement after being blown away by KL Rahul in Mohali last Sunday. Can their big hitters fire, and piece together a complete performance at the Wankhede?
Both sides certainly have the quality to help kickstart their respective seasons, so should be another
interesting clash that could potentially go either way.
Key to a Mumbai Indians win
In game one, it was their bowling that let them down in key stages. In game two, they didn’t quite score enough with the bat. In game three, a complete performance is required.
Against SRH, no batsman went past 30, resulting in a sub-150 score, where 170+ could have been scored otherwise. Rohit Sharma is yet to fire, and the middle order has threatened, but this could very well be the game where the might of MI’s batting finally comes to the fore. They had a better start in terms of run rate in the powerplay against SRH, but losing three wickets in the first six is historically very hard to come back from. The top order needs to fire third time around.
With the ball, Mayank Markande and Mustafizur Rahman were extremely impressive in giving MI a chance at an amazing comeback win vs SRH, taking 7/47 off eight overs between them. Can Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya and Ben Cutting/Mitchell McClenaghan (the latter both most disappointing) find their best form?
Key to a Delhi Daredevils win
Colin Munro, Glenn Maxwell and Rishabh Pant hold such a key for DD in this game. In T20 cricket, they have strike rates of 148.69, 157.63 and 161.22 respectively.
With Gautam Gambhir capable of playing an anchor role, the others can be enabled to play high paced innings, giving the innings impetus, and against a strong MI batting line up, this is important. Gambhir’s stike rate in the powerplay is good, and this will be key to ensure DD enjoy a solid start in the first six overs.
If you look at IPL 2018 so far, teams who lose three wickets in the powerplay have gone on to lose two out of two games. MI were one of those teams, so there is an opportunity for DD’s bowlers to expose this, in addition to the role of Gambhir in conjunction with DD’s power strikers, to put MI under pressure.
Predicted teams:
For Mumbai, do they go with Mitchell McClenaghan or Ben Cutting for the third seamer role? Both have struggled so far in this tournament, leaking runs at key stages, that has seen their team lose both matches. McClenaghan has a death overs economy rate of 9.41 and for Cutting, it’s 10.50. This is a big decision, as support is needed for Jasprit Bumrah, Mustafizur Rahman and the magnificent Mayank Markande.
Mumbai Indians XI: 1. Rohit Sharma (c), 2. Evin Lewis, 3. Ishan Kishan, 4. Suryakumar Yadav, 5. Krunal Pandya, 6. Hardik Pandya, 7. Kieron Pollard, 8. Mitchell McClenaghan, 9. Mayank Markande, 10. Jasprit Bumrah, 11. Mustafizur Rahman
For Delhi, expect them to go with their regular batting line up, after changing it up as they needed 71 off six overs due to the rain against RR.
Delhi Daredevils XI: 1. Gautam Gambhir (c), 2. Colin Munro, 3. Shreyas Iyer, 4. Glenn Maxwell, 5. Rishabh Pant (wk), 6. Chris Morris, 7. Vijay Shankar, 8. Rahul Tewatia, 9. Shahbaz Nadeem, 10. Mohammed Shami, 11. Trent Boult
Stats and Facts:
- Head-to-Head: Matches: 20, MI: 11, DD: 9. In the last five meetings, MI have won four. At the Wankhede, MI have won five out of six.
- MI have the worst powerplay run rate (7.75) of all teams so far in IPL 2018.
- Gautam Gambhir’s average of 22.60 against MI is his lowest against any team.
- Glenn Maxwell loves MI’s left arm seamers. In all T20s, he has scored a total of 65 runs off 24 balls against Pradeep Sangwan, Mitchell McClenaghan and Mustafizur Rahman.
- Batsmen have only been in control in 27 of the 47 balls the “Fizz” Mustafizur Rahman has bowled in IPL 2018. Coming back to his best?
Prediction:
Both sides are packed with good players that can turn the game in their favour, but with MI at home, I will pick them to kickstart their season with a win. They have come close twice, and I think they will be third time lucky.
