The Indian Premier League returns to Chennai on Saturday as the defending champions Mumbai Indians continue their title defence when they go up against the so far winless Sunrisers Hyderabad for whom this is already a big game.
The Indians got off the mark for the season in their previous outing which will ease the pressure on them in this one. Sunrisers have been competitive in both their matches but a familiar weakness has reared its ugly head once again.
Mumbai Indians
The Mumbai Indians sit 1-1 for their season but with a bit of luck they could easily have been 2-0 but at the same time they probably should be 0-2, such is the fine margins they have been involved with so far in this campaign. The one thing which has stood out in both their matches is their powerful batting line up is struggling to impose itself on the opposition. That isn’t good but that is purely down to the conditions here which couldn’t be more different from their usual home ones.
The one thing that has kept them in these matches has been their bowling attack. I think it is pushing it to suggest that their attack are suited to these conditions but they have some clever bowlers who soon know what it takes to deliver the goods on any pitch. That they have kept two decent batting units relatively quiet so far despite conditions not suiting them is very much a tick in their box and offers up a reason to believe they will be strong once again.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
The Sunrisers Hyderabad go into this match 0-2 for their campaign but only they will know how that is the case. That probably isn’t strictly true in fairness. They are 0-2 because their weakness of their middle order has twice been exposed and when push has come to shove they have offered nothing. Losing their first two matches isn’t a new phenomenon for the Sunrisers, this is the fourth time it has happened, including their title winning season, but Mumbai were not the opponent they would want in this situation.
The first game you could almost forgive them. Their bowlers were slack, which doesn’t happen too often, but anyone can be rusty in the opening game of a season. There was no excuse in the second match though. Their bowlers had restricted Royal Challengers Bangalore to a below par total and then they had the run chase completely under control before a collapse which we see too often from this lot undid all their hard work. That order needs sorting quickly.
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Key Men
Trent Boult might not have the optimum conditions available to him here but he has still bowled well so far in the tournament and if he can rip out the top order of the Sunrisers with the new ball then we’ve seen twice that there isn’t a whole lot to come in terms of quality or form.
Manish Pandey looked to be guiding the run chase to perfection in the previous game then out of nowhere he slapped one up in the air and exposed a weak middle order. He is batting in a position where if he gets himself in he has to get his side over the line.
Betting
We’ve had four matches at this venue so far this season and only one of them have been what you would call high scoring. I don’t think that is a coincidence. The wickets here aren’t conducive to free flowing batting and it is probably no surprise that the high scoring match was when the bowlers were not at the races. Even then only one big partnership made it high scoring so I’m happy to put that down as an anomaly rather than the norm.
The runs line for this one is 328.5 which has only been covered in that one high scoring game and I don’t think it will be covered here. The reason I say that is neither of these batting units have got going yet and these two teams probably have the best two attacks in the competition when they are on it. I don’t expect the power batsmen to have much joy here and with some good quality spinners and both sides having quality at the death it is hard to see either batting unit getting away. The under looks the way forward here.
Tips
WON – Back Under 328.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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