Mumbai Indians are set to take on Rising Pune Supergiants in the opening match of 2016 Indian Premier League on 9th April. Wankhede Stadium will be hosting the first game of Vivo IPL 9 from 8:00 PM IST. MI is the title defending champion in the competition whereas RPS are playing their first ever IPLT20 season.
Preview
Title defenders Mumbai Indians will be looking to start the tournament with a win on Saturday against new comer Pune Supergiants. Rohit & Co has done great in previous editions and always been dangerous side when play on Wankhede’s pitch. Team is highly depending on their batting line-up that includes big players like skipper Rohit, wicket-keeper batsman Parthiv Patel and all-rounder Kieron Pollard.
As per expectations Parthiv Patel and Lendl Simmons will be opening in the first match followed by Rohit at number 3. Corey Anderson and Ambati Rayudu need to play well in the middle overs to keep run rate maintain whereas Kieron Pollard to go big at the end overs. Hardik Pandya and Harbhajan Singh can also score quick runs if team requires. Tim Southee, Jasprit Bumrah, Harbhajan Singh and Vinay Kumar will be the key bowlers for Mumbai while Anderson and Pollard to full 5th bowling quota.
On the other hand, Rising Pune Supergiants will also be depending on their destructive batting line-up. Ajinkya Rahane and Faf du Plessis will be opening for them while Kevin Pietersen and Steve Smith to play crucial role in the middle overs for team. MS Dhoni, Mitchell Marsh, Saurbah Tiwary and Irfan Pathan will also be key players in the last overs who can go after the bowling attack and destroy the Mumbai’s bowling line-up which will miss Lasith Malinga.
Ishant Sharma, Ravichandran Ashwin and Mitchell Marsh will be the top bowlers for MS Dhoni in the opening match against Mumbai Indians.
Probable Playing XIs
Mumbai Indians
Rohit Sharma (Captain), Parthiv Patel, Kieron Pollard, Corey Anderson, Harbhajan Singh, Ambati Rayudu, Lendl Simmons, Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Vinay Kumar, Tim Southee.
Rising Pune Supergiants
MS Dhoni (Captain), Steve Smith, Ajinkya Rahane, Faf du Plessis, Kevin Pietersen, Irfan Pathan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mitchell Marsh, Saurabh Tiwary, M. Ashwin.
Predictions
Mumbai Indians will be favorite to win and they have got 55 percent winning chances over Rising Pune Supergiants in the first game of Vivo IPL 2016.