Highlights
Defending Champions Mumbai Indians are all set to play with 2019 runners-up, Chennai Super Kings in the first match of the IPL 2020 on Saturday, September 19th at Abu-Dhabi.
( Photo - Twitter/#MIvCSK, MI vs CSK)
PREVIEW
After a long wait, the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League is all set to commence from 19th of September in Abu-Dhabi between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings. Both the teams are the most successful teams in the history of IPL.
MI is the only one to have more wins than defeats against CSK. They have won 18 times and CSK won 12 times with MI winning all games against CSK last season. They are known as the slow starters as they have been losing all of their first games since 2012. Well, they are looking very strong on paper and will be looking to start on a good note against CSK on the basis of their recent form against them.
On the other side, the Dhoni led side is the most successful team in terms of winning percentage in IPL. CSK had to face a lot of things after coming to UAE. Against all odds they are playing the first game and will be traveling to Abu-Dhabi with zero ideas about the pitch. With no Harbhajan and Suresh Raina available, CSK have to look out for new players in their positions. At last we all expect CSK to do well irrespective of the team on paper, there is always a leader who paves the way for the team in every situation.
PITCH REPORT and CONDITIONS
The pitch in Abu-Dhabi is known to be slow. It will be good contest between the bat and ball. We can expect pace bowlers to get some help in the initial overs of the innings. The average 1st innings score is 147 in IPL matches and is about 140 in all the T20Is played here. 150-160 is a good total to defend in the first game on Saturday.
The conditions are good for a cricket match with zero chances of rain. It will be a hot day as usual in UAE with uncertainty on the Dew factor.
PROBABLE XI
Mumbai Indians:
Quinton de Kock (WK), Rohit Sharma (C), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult.
Chennai Super Kings:
Shane Watson, Murali Vijay, Faf du Plessis, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (C)(WK), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, DJ Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Imran Tahir.
FANTASY TIPS ( Key Players )
Deepak Chahar has 25 wickets in the PP since 2018, highest by any bowler. He got Rohit Sharma out twice in the PP and Rohit has a SR of 120 against him. It will be a new pitch at night which might help pacers with the new ball.
Keiron Pollard was hitting the ball at a SR of 204 and averaged 51 in the CPL 2020. He has a SR of 165.13 with 502 runs ( including CLT20), also the second highest run-scorer against CSK from his team.
Hardik Pandya scored 400+ at a SR of 191.42. He was also the man of the match against CSK in their first meeting last season.
Surya Kumar Yadav is the highest run-scorer in this fixture since 2018. He was also the man of the match in the Qualifier 1 match against CSK last year.
Imran Tahir was the leading wicket taker in the last season (26) and has 7 in this fixture. He took 15 wickets CPL this season.
Shane Watson scored 80 runs in the final against MI last year and is a very dangerous batsman after getting set. He has a SR over 192 after the first 5 overs of batting in PP.
MS Dhoni has been superb since 2018 with CSK. He has 871 runs at an average of 79.18 at a SR of 142.55. He is the leading run-scorer (627) from CSK against MI after Raina.
Rohit Sharma is the leading run-scorer in this fixture, only behind Raina. (646) He will be the man to watch out under the conditions in UAE.
Jasprit Bumrah, man of the match in the final against CSK last year and also a very successful bowler against MS Dhoni. He got MS out 3 times in the death overs at a rate of 118.2. He is a major reason behind MI's recent success against CSK.
Rahul Chahar is a man to go in need for MI. The CSK's middle order collapsed against a leg spinner when these two teams played in an opening match last time. He has taken 3 wickets with an average of 20 at an economy of just above 4 against CSK.
Dream XI:
Option 1
Option 2-
EXPERT ADVICE
The Abu-Dhabi track might help the fast bowlers initially so it is advisable to pick Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar and Jasprit Bumrah in your XI.
Quinton de Kock was the top scorer for MI last season but had an average of 14 against CSK.
PREDICTION
It is a tough call on predicting a winner from these two sides as both of the teams are looking with all bases covered. CSK will be without Raina and Harbhajan whereas MI always starts slow. Anyways, the team which saves their wickets in the first 10 overs can go through the line in the season opener. Toss will play a role in this match.
Written by Kaushik Kashyap, a young Cricket Enthusiastic and Budding Analyst.
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