There is a third Indian Premier League double header in a row on Sunday and the opening match of it sees the Mumbai Indians taking on the Gujarat Lions in a clash which should deliver plenty in the way of fireworks.
Mumbai will go top of the table on their own should they win the match while Gujarat will get themselves back into the competition if they can find a win of their own so there is plenty to play for here.
Mumbai Indians
After dropping their opening match against the Rising Pune Supergiant the Mumbai Indians have won three matches in a row and so they should be going into this one full of confidence especially having beaten the defending champions and won in Bangalore in their last two matches – good wins at any stage of a season.
Mumbai’s bowling has been very impressive in their last two matches especially but their experience and their ability to handle themselves when the pressure has been on has been pleasing for everyone involved and their fans. Even when it was all going wrong with the bat in Bangalore they were able to turn it around which bodes well.
Gujarat Lions
The Gujarat Lions began this tournament about as badly as it was possible to do. They could only take one wicket in their opening two matches and were resoundingly beaten in both games but they dragged themselves up from the depths of despair to get a much needed win last time out and give themselves something to build on.
Although they haven’t been going great guns with the bat in the early stages of the competition I don’t think we need to worry about them in that area of the game. Their season and where they finish will be determined by how often they can find wickets with the ball and I suspect how often they can bat second.
Team News
Lasith Malinga missed the last match for the Mumbai Indians but he has apparently recovered to take his place back in the side. He will come in for either Mitchell McClenaghan or Tim Southee.
Gujarat Lions finally stumbled on a combination for their last match and I don’t expect the combination to change too much. The personnel might if they want to rotate their bowlers but they could go in with an unchanged side.
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Betting
I’m rarely one to bet on a match result at the Wankhede and I’m not going to do that here having been taught a lesson when I did it in the last match here. I would imagine Mumbai will win the match but I don’t want to be sitting on them at 8/11 with this fearsome Gujarat batting line up going at me.
Instead I will look to use that batting power to my advantage and go towards the sixes where I fancy a few to be hit. Gujarat bowled better in their last match but if we take Andrew Tye’s freak spell out of it they still didn’t pull up any trees and while Mumbai are bowling well they are going to have to bowl well here because this Gujarat top six are very potent.
I think that is all going to lead to a number of sixes. Both sides have been hitting sixes in their recent outings and with a wicket that suits the batsmen and short boundaries to clear I’m expecting the sixes total to soar past 14.5.
I’m also going to take Kieron Pollard to be the top Mumbai batsman once again. He top scored for Mumbai last time out and although Andrew Tye is around this Gujarat attack are there to be hit again. It might be that Pollard’s exploits see him go up the order a spot or two but even if he doesn’t he can score quicker than anyone else and land a punt at 10/1.
Tips
Back Over 14.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Betbright
Back it here:
Back K.Pollard Top Mumbai Indians Batsman for a 1/10 stake at 11.00 with Ladbrokes
Back him here:
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