Mumbai: After a nerve-wracking super over win against Gujarat Lions in Rajkot on Saturday Mumbai Indians will be aiming to inch closer to playoff berth with dominating win over lethargic Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The home side lost to Rising Pune Supergiant by three runs on Monday which was their only defeat of the season at Wankhede stadium.
Mumbai are at the second spot in the IPL standings with 14 points (seven wins), while Bangalore are out of contention for play-offs after having just five points from their ten games.
Every player has stood up when required which has put Mumbai Indians as strong title contenders at the moment. The Rohit Sharma led side though have messed up few chases during the tournament especially in last couple of games but good thing is someone has stayed at the crease till the end.
The top order has done its job well with good starts and only time they struggled was against RCB in Bengaluru when Samuel Badree took a hat trick before Kieron Pollard played a match winning innings on a difficult wicket. That was an afternoon game and on Monday also there will be 4 P.m. start so the pitch is expected to be a bit slower.
Lasith Malinga was back in the side and took couple of wickets in the last game. His form remains the key for Mumbai’s chances to regain title. The Sri Lankan with slingy action will like to pose problems to the likes of Gayle, Virat and DeVilliers like he did to Brendon McCullum and Aaron Finch in the last game. Mitchell McGlenaghan has been inconsistent but he has picked wickets and won matches for his franchise.
Jasprit Bumrah showed on Saturday how good he could be in the death overs with his yorkers and variations. Krunal Pandya and Harbhajan Singh have controlled the run flow superbly in the middle overs.
RCB is on downward spiral and batting has let them down in the last three games they lost. Skipper Virat Kohli’s half-century in the previous match was the only bright spot on Saturday in Pune.
