Mumbai Indians face uphill task against RCB

Mumbai: Beleaguered Mumbai Indians face an uphill task against a batting-heavy Royal Challengers Bangalore in their IPL-9 game at Wankhede stadium here on Wednesday. The visitors will be without Chris Gayle who has returned home to see his newborn son.

The hosts have lost three out of four games and are desperate to find their feet in the tournament. At home, so far, they have lost both games and would be eager to win. Mumbai’s batting has failed inexplicably barring the big chase against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens. Skipper Rohit Sharma is yet to fire and so is highly-rated Jos Butler. But the duo played key role in Mumbai’s chase against KKR.

Kieron Pollard missed previous game at Hyderabad due to a bout of “food poisoning”. He was replaced by Martin Guptill. Pollard is now available for selection but Guptill is likely to get longer run to enable Rohit Sharma bat in the middle-order.

Hardik Pandya’s performance this season has been subdued, but his brother Krunal has given depth in both batting and bowling to the side in the last two games. Parthiv Patel has given starts and Ambati Rayudu has made No. 3 spot his own.

Bowling has been reasonably well with Mitchell McClenaghan leading the pack.
Tim Southee showed in the last game that how lethal he can be if he finds the swing. Spinners Harbhajan Singh and Krunal Pandya have bowled well in the middle overs. Jasprit Bumrah hasn’t been consistent.

Royal Challengers Bangalore will be playing their first away game after winning one and losing as many at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. The star-studded team scored 227/4 against Sunrisers Hyderabad and won by 45 runs, against Delhi Daredevils they failed to defend a total of 191/5, exposing their bowling.

Skipper Virat Kohli has scored 154 runs and AB De Villiers 137 with two half centuries each. They have been involved in century stands twice. The duo had put on a stupendous show last time around here with unfinished 215 runs partnership to take RCB to 235/1. AB smashed 59-ball 133 while Kohli played the second fiddle with 50-ball 82 and they went on to win by 39 runs.

de Villiers went on to score 61-ball 119 in the decider of the five-match ODI series against India here and followed it up with quick fire 64 against Afghanistan in the World Twenty20 game here recently to show his affinity for the ground.
RCB batsmen failed to accelerate in the death overs in the previous game and they will want Shane Watson, Sarafraz Khan and Kedar Jadhav to smash hard to get a score in excess of 200.

Gayle’s absence means they can strengthen their bowling by bringing in Adam Milne or Kane Richardson after ton-up Quinton De Kock and half-centurion Karun Nair exposed chinks in their bowling on Sunday. RCB have unused option in Varun Aaron. Parvez Rasool has done well with the ball while leggie Yuzvendra Chahal has gone for few but he was impressive last season.

Both teams have been hit hard by injuries. Lasith Malinga and Lendl Simmons have been ruled out for MI. RCB has already lost Mitchell Starc and leg-spinner Samuel Badree is recuperating from a shoulder injury.