Two time IPLT20 winner Mumbai Indians will look to seal their fourth berth in the Vivo Indian Premier League final when they’ll host Rising Pune Supergiant in the first qualifier match of IPL 2017. Hosts Mumbai Indians topped the IPL 2017 points table with 10 wins and 20 points meanwhile Rising Pune secured 2nd position with 18 points.
Preview
Probably home team Mumbai Indians will be trying hard to figure out how to beat Rising Pune Supergiant who defeated them in two matches of this season. Yes, RPS beat MI twice in this 10th Vivo Indian Premier League and will be desperate to repeat the performance again.
Few days back, Mumbai played Kings XI Punjab on this Wankhede stadium and KXIP smashed 230 runs in that game. However MI still chased pretty well and lost the match only by 7 runs. The fact behind mentioning all this information is let you know how lovely pitch is going to have for first qualifier match. So batsmen are going to have party while bowlers will have to struggle.
Mumbai Indians are in prime form and their batsmen are delivering terrific though skipper Rohit hasn’t been seen in his prime form. Pollard, Simmons, Parthiv, Rohit and Pandya brothers are going to set party for the blue sea crowd in the stadium. However team management still needs to think with who they want to go in the one middle order batting slot whether Nitish Rana or Ambati Rayudu.
Salinga Malinga hasn’t look in good rhythm but still will get into playing 11 for Mumbai Indians vs Rising Pune first qualifier match. Mitchell Johnson may also get a chance to play if Malinga is not fully fit. Bumrah, McClanaghan and Harbhajan will also be seen bowling while Pandya brothers to complete fifth bowler’s bowling quota. Pollard might get 1-2 overs as well.
On the other side, Rising Pune Supergiant will be missing English cricketer Ben Stokes who has returned to England for completing national duties. He was key all-rounder in the side who was bowling well, striking ball excellent and fielding exceptionally well. He took 12 wickets, scored more than 300 runs in the tournament. Hence he’ll be missed a lot.
But yeah RPS to play better cricket with available players in the side. Seems like Rajat Bhatia to get place in the side as an all-rounder. Ferguson will get the match to make bowling a bit stronger. Rahane, Tripathi, Smith and Dhoni are the batsmen to whom team will rely a lot.
Probable Playing XIs
Mumbai Indians
Rohit Sharma (c), Lendl Simmons, Parthiv Patel, Ambati Rayudu, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Harbhajan Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Mitchell McClanaghan, Lasith Malinga.
Rising Pune Supergiant
Steve Smith (c), Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Tripathi, MS Dhoni, Daniel Christian, Adam Zampa, Manoj Tiwary, Lockie Ferguson, Rajat Bhatia, Jaydev Unadkat, Washington Sundar.
Prediction
Win Prediction
Although Mumbai Indians are looking hot, our prediction goes with Rising Pune Supergiant and believe that they will the first qualifier match in IPL 2017. As per our win prediction, they have got 55% win chances over MI.
Score Prediction
Wankhede stadium’s pitch look quite decent and full with loads of runs. We can have a high scoring match. 180 plus score can be made on this surface while batting first.