The second half of Saturday’s double header in the Indian Premier League promises to be a really explosive contest as the Mumbai Indians continue their title defence against the side who have stolen the early lead in the table, the newcomers Gujarat Lions.
Mumbai Indians
It has already been an eventful beginning to the title defence of the Indians. They were given a real hiding in their previous match on this ground, their first of the season when they couldn’t get anything going against the Rising Pune Supergiants but they produced a remarkable run chase in their second match to knock off the Knight Riders.
Jos Buttler was the star of that match and he could well go on and become a huge star of the tournament. Around him though I’m not convinced Mumbai have got their overseas line up quite right and it will be interesting to see if that changes for them here.
Gujarat Lions
The Lions have begun their debut season brilliantly. They have played two matches and won them both and in truth they haven’t really been troubled in either of them.
They look a well-balanced side with the bat and the ball with options galore in both departments. Their top three is as powerful as anything the competition can offer outside of Bangalore and their bowling has wonderful variations and should be a big factor on any kind of wicket they encounter in this tournament.
Team news
We know Lendl Simmons won’t feature for the Mumbai Indians again in this tournament. Ricky Ponting confirmed that the West Indian has been ruled out for the season. Martin Guptill will replace him but he might not be ready for action just yet so Mumbai’s overseas players could stay the same unless Corey Anderson comes into the side.
There is no need for the Lions to change anything in their side. They’ve won both their matches with so much to spare that it would be a real surprise if they are not unchanged for this one.
Form
Mumbai Indians: LW
Gujarat Lions: WW
Head to head: First meeting
Wankhede Stadium
Contrary to the first match here the Wankhede is a wonderful place to bat and after the result of that previous game I would be surprised if we get anything other than a batting paradise especially having seen how Mumbai batted in Kolkata last time out.
We saw in the T20 World Cup that high scores are becoming the norm here and I’m expecting another one of those, especially with the batting power and the personnel on show in this one. This could be a long night for the bowlers.
Betting
This isn’t a match to get too involved in from the start because once again I would expect the chasing side to have a significant advantage here so betting prior to the toss isn’t advisable but there is another bet I like.
The sixes line for this match is at 13.5 which looks a gross overreaction to the last match on this ground. I think that was a rarity rather than the norm and I just don’t see how a match with the likes of Sharma, Buttler, Pandya, Pollard, Rayudu, McCullum, Finch, Raina, Bravo and Faulkner to name just some of the hitters on show, doesn’t contain a plethora of sixes.
We saw in Kolkata the kind of damage this Mumbai batting line up can do and we’ve seen that in both of the Lions’ matches. I fully expect to see it here too. I’m on the overs at that line.
Tips
Back Over 13.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Coral
Back them here:
