Team Mumbai and Bangalore have been in and around the top three in the Indian T20 League table ever since the beginning of the tournament, but neither have their playoff spot sealed as you need at least 16 points to get the Qualified badge and this is what makes MI vs RCB a must-watch. Over the years we’ve seen some dramatic changes to the points table at the latter stage of the competition. MI vs RCB promises to be a super exciting contest as both teams will be looking to secure their playoff spot.
Mumbai have been dominant over Bangalore over the years having won sixteen matches as compared to just nine by Bangalore. The previous match between the two went down to the Super Over where Bangalore emerged victorious after a superb Super Over by Navdeep Saini.
KEY BATTLES
Hardik Pandya vs AB de Villiers
Hardik Pandya smashed a 21 ball 60 against Rajasthan helping Mumbai reach 195 after being 121/4 after 16 overs. Pandya has scored 224 runs at a strike rate of 182.11, third-best in the tournament. Among batsmen who have batted at number 5 or below Pandya has scored 203 runs at an average of 33.83, only three batsmen have scored more runs.
Due to his back injury, Hardik is playing as a proper batsman and so far he has done reasonably well. Expect him to continue striking it all over the park and he could emerge as the top batter of this match.
AB de Villiers has been in great touch this season scoring 324 runs at an average of 54 and a strike rate of 174.19. He is the 3rd highest scorer in the Bangalore team this season with his average and strike rate being the 2nd best in his team.
AB is world-class and loves batting against Mumbai. He should be able to put together another successful inning in this match.
PLAYERS TO WATCH OUT FOR
Ishan Kishan
The previous encounter between these two teams saw Ishan Kishan exhibiting his class. He scored a flawless 99 and deserved a hundred in this match. He almost took his team home and almost pulled off an unexpected victory. He is batting as an opener in the recent few matches given the injury Rohit Sharma sustained and looks at his best as an opener.
Yuzvendra Chahal
Yuzvendra Chahal is the only spinner who has taken 15+ wickets this season. Chahal has dominated the middle overs picking up 11 out of his 16 wickets in that phase. This the joint 2nd most wicket taken by a spinner in the middle overs along with Rahul Chahar. He changes games single-handedly and would love to do well against his former team.
PREDICTED LINE-UPS
MI: Quinton de Kock (WK), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard (C), Krunal Pandya, James Pattinson, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
RCB: Devdutt Paddikal, Aaron Finch, Virat Kohli (C), AB de Villiers (WK), Gurkeerat Mann, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Dale Steyn, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini
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