Mumbai: With an eye on the much-awaited final, heavyweights Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) face off in a high-voltage clash in the first qualifier of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday.
A win for either team on Tuesday will ensure a place in the tournament’s final at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on May 24, whereas the losing side will get a second chance to prove their worth. They will face, in the second qualifier in Ranchi on May 22, the winner of the eliminator to be played on May 20 between Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The two teams met twice earlier in the season with both teams winning one match each. On April 17 in Mumbai, CSK won the match by six wickets. Chennai posted 189/4 in 16.4 overs in reply to Mumbai’s 183.
In the return leg on May 8 in Chennai, Mumbai won by six wickets. The home side posted 158 after opting to bat. Mumbai chased down the target with four balls remaining.
On Tuesday, the two-time champions CSK will have to come up with a new opening combination, with hard-hitting New Zealander Brendon McCullum having left to join his national squad to play in the Test series against England starting on May 21.
The Kiwi scored 436 runs from 14 games and will be sorely missed, but veteran batsman Michael Hussey, who opened with McCullum against Kings XI Punjab in Mohali on Saturday, is likely to replace the New Zealander. West Indian batsman Dwayne Smith will be back into the squad to open with the bat.
Apart from the opening duo, in-form batsmen Faf du Plessis (313 runs from 14 games), Suresh Raina (321 runs from 14 games) and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (328 runs from 14 games) make for a formidable CSK batting line-up.
Their bowling will primarily rely on leading Dwayne Bravo (20 wickets from 14 games) and fifth placed Ashish Nehra (18 wickets from 13 games) followed by spinners Ravichandra Ashwin, Pawan Negi, Ravindra Jadeja.
On the other hand, Mumbai will be high on confidence coming into Tuesday’s match after their thumping nine-wicket win over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday. Pacers Mitchell McClenaghan (3-16), Lasith Malinga (2-17) and spinner Jagadeesha Suchith (2-14) starred with the ball to bundle out Hyderabad for 113.
Chasing a small target, in-form openers Lendl Simmons and Parthiv Patel got off to flying start with a 100-run opening stand, thus chasing down the target in 13.5 overs and steering their team into the IPL play-offs.
The 2013 IPL champions will enjoy a lot of advantages at home and will look to make the best of it. Malinga and McClenaghan (sharing 33 wickets among themselves) will aim to deliver once again and dethrone the rock solid CSK batting line-up.
Mumbai have a heavyeight middle order as Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Kieron Pollard, and Hardik Pandya have all shown themselves to be clean strikers of the ball and adept at chasing down targets.
