We have another double header of action in the Indian Premier League on Saturday and it begins with two of the bigger teams as the Delhi Capitals take on the Mumbai Indians in another huge clash in the IPL 2021 season.
The Capitals have already qualified for the playoffs but have a top two finish in their sights and need to win here to enhance those claims. The Indians will move into fourth with a win here as they bid to defend their title but a loss could see their title defence end at the regular season stage.
Mumbai Indians
Things are beginning to get a little real for the Mumbai Indians. After losing their opening three matches upon the restart of the season, they then won their latest match against the Punjab Kings but you would be stretching the truth a little if you were to suggest they were anywhere near their best. We are used to Mumbai warming up as a period of matches goes along but I think they are going to need to find more than what they have shown us so far.
The big issue is that their batting isn’t really firing on all cylinders. Only once since the restart have they scored more than 150 and that is in four matches. You sense that unless their order starts delivering as a complete unit this might be the one time where Mumbai don’t go from strength to strength and peak at the right time. The big concern for that happening is that these pitches, particularly this one in Sharjah, do not tend to the qualities of most of their batters.
Delhi Capitals
The Delhi Capitals have been one of the best teams in the IPL 2021 campaign and that is reflected in the league table, however they come into this match off the back of a surprise defeat to the Kolkata Knight Riders where they just didn’t get going at all. That was here in Sharjah so that will bring about some sort of concern because it was pretty clear from an early stage that the sluggish nature of the pitch was shackling their batters.
In the end they failed to post 130 and that is largely unheard of for the Delhi Capitals. The fact they have had a match here should allow them to plan and go about their business much better in this contest, but ultimately if a wicket doesn’t suit a team there isn’t a whole lot the side can do about it. What that does mean is that it is imperative that the Delhi bowlers stand up and are counted, especially in what you would imagine would be a lower scoring match then these two teams would normally be involved in.
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Key Men
Sharjah is looking more and more like a new ball pitch at the minute so Rohit Sharma is going to be a key man for the Mumbai Indians in this one. He has the ability to go after the bowling whether it is seam or spin and his side need a big innings from him.
Shikhar Dhawan has quietened down in the last game or two and that will be a concern for the Delhi Capitals because there are issues with Prithvi Shaw so on a new ball wicket the Capitals need their senior man to step up and be counted.
Betting
By virtue of the fact that the Delhi Capitals have only hit eight sixes in their three matches in the UAE leg of the tournament and none of those came in their last match which was here in Sharjah, I think the 10/11 on Mumbai Indians hitting the most sixes is the best bet to be having in this match. The Mumbai attack rarely goes for many because Boult, Bumrah and Coulter-Nile are not the easiest to get away and the Capitals don’t really have many power hitters, and the ones they have come deeper into the order.
The Mumbai Indians tend to hit all the way down and there is absolutely no way this ground is big enough for the likes of Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard regardless of what the pitch does or doesn’t do. Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock and Suryakumar Yadav can all hit a clean ball as well so I really do believe that Mumbai will hit the most sixes here. With the more powerful batting and bowling that rarely goes the distance it all points to Mumbai.
Tips
Back Mumbai Indians Most 6s for a 3/10 stake at 1.91 with Betfair
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