The ball to see some success in Chennai
Rohit Sharma’s mercurial Mumbai Indians host the Sunrisers Hyderabad on Saturday, pushing for a third consecutive IPL crown. One time winners Sunrisers have been a trendsetter in their player recruitment policy, prioritising ball over bat consistently in their time in the tournament. The attack led by Bhuvneshwar Kumar restricted the Royal Challengers Bangalore’s star studded lineup to under 150 runs in their last match, however are entering dangerous territory, expected to lose this match and should they, will have lost all three of their opening games. Mumbai have won two of the last four meetings, with one being a tie and Sunrisers taking their last meeting in a comfortable 10 wicket victory.
Background
Wriddhiman Saha has been restored to the top of the order at the start of this campaign, however the two defeats combined with two single figure scores will see the hierarchy’s faith wavering with the keeper batsman who has not impressed in recent editions of the competition. His experience and excellent glovework makes him a valuable member of the side but if you bat in the top seven and are not producing runs, you are under pressure, such is the brutality of franchise t20 cricket. Star batsmen Jonny Bairstow, David Warner and Manish Pandey have all hit the ground running with a half century each in their first two games, these three must carry on this form if they are to reach the playoffs again.
Mumbai have only made one change in their two matches with Quinton De Kock replacing Chris Lynn last time out. Consistency in selection has been a key component of the Indians’ success in recent years, they have a settled side who all know their roles and it has come off to devastating effect. The bowling attack has come on leaps and bounds since the acquisition of Trent Boult and the Kiwi left armer will be a constant threat at the top of the innings here, should Saha get another game Boult will be licking his lips.
A relative unknown at the auction but the Mumbai recruitment strategy seems to have unearthed another gem in Marco Jansen. The 20-year-old South African left armer looks to be freshening up the attack in the place of the ageing Mitchell McClenaghan, adding even more pace to the unit. His debut went extremely well posting figures of 2-28 from his four over compliment before a less impressive 0-17 from just two overs in their victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Mumbai are rightful favourites and may well be in every match they go into this season, with their hard hitting style and the wonderfully crafted bowling contingents we see on the show in this fixture, getting wickets onside seems wise to me.
Post bet chat Marcus's Tips:
Mumbai got the win, 15 wickets in the match sees this a comfortable winner.