The Indian Premier League heads back to Chennai on Tuesday for a repeat of the 2020 IPL final as the Mumbai Indians take on the Delhi Capitals in what should be a great contest between arguably the best two sides in the competition.
Mumbai got the better of Delhi in that final a few months ago and have the advantage of having played all their matches here so far. Delhi might have a bit to find if that conclusion is anything to go by and they will have to adjust to a new venue for them too.
Mumbai Indians
The Mumbai Indians dropped their opening match when the Royal Challengers Bangalore got the better of them but that doesn’t look a terrible result right now. They have responded like champions do however to win their next two matches, although you would have to say there has been nothing convincing about either win. Wins are wins though and they have them in a good early position in the table and has given them a platform to launch for another title when they get into conditions which suit them better.
You get the impression that slowly but surely the Mumbai batsmen are coming to terms with the task that is at hand and although they haven’t belted the lights out of their 20 overs they have put up scores which have given their bowlers just enough to defend, although last time out against the Sunrisers Hyderabad they had to rely on a trademark collapse from their opponents to come away with the win.
Delhi Capitals
The Delhi Capitals have had a bit of an up and down start to the campaign themselves. They looked absolutely brilliant in beating the Chennai Super Kings in their first match before a terrible batting show against the Rajasthan Royals condemned them to defeat in their second. They rebounded like good sides do though to come out on top against the Punjab Kings over the weekend and now they head to Chennai looking to push on for the campaign.
You get the feeling this will be a big test for the Capitals. I say that for two reasons. Not only are they up against the defending champions but they will be playing in conditions completely alien to those they have played in so far this season so they will need to show the ability to adapt very quickly while still performing at their best. I don’t think the Delhi bowlers will have too many issues here but the batsmen are going to need to adjust their style.
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Key Men
We picked out Rahul Chahar as a key man for the Mumbai Indians in our top bowler preview for the season and he has really come to the party in the last two matches. Delhi aren’t no longer the left-handed juggernaut they were last season so expect the leggie to have another big day out.
Ravi Ashwin hasn’t really set the world alight yet this season but if anyone knows these Chennai conditions it will be he. He was a Super Kings player for a long time and recently represented India in two Test matches on this ground so he will feel right at home. Look for him to be used early to shackle the left-handed talents of Quinton de Kock and Ishan Kishan.
Betting
There have been six matches in Chennai this season and only two of them have had more than 320 runs in them. It is probably no coincidence that both of those matches have involved the Kolkata Knight Riders. That is a reflection on how Eoin Morgan asks his teams to play rather than the fact that they have mastered the conditions or anything like that. The other four matches are a guide to how tacky the conditions are here and I don’t expect anything to change in that regard.
Even in great batting conditions in Mumbai, the Delhi Capitals have been shackled in this tournament already and we saw in that match that when their top order fail the rest can struggle with them. Those openers are stroke players who might not be suited to conditions here but the one thing that the Capitals have going for them is that their bowlers shouldn’t be too inconvenienced by them. The runs line for this one is up at 322.5 but I’ll side with the bowlers and take the under here.
Tips
WON – Back Under 322.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Betway
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