Table toppers Mumbai Indians take on a No.7 placed Rajasthan Royals in 2nd game of the night in Abu Dhabi. Kieron Pollard who was a stand in captain for injured Rohit Sharma led his team well last and could continue to do so till the latter is fit. Steve Smith led RR has no other choice but all to win all the games from here on. MI won the reverse fixture by 57 runs in the same s
The table-toppers Mumbai Indians take on a 7th placed Rajasthan Royals in the 2nd game of the night in Abu Dhabi. Kieron Pollard was the stand-in captain for MI in place of Rohit Sharma who was injured and won his 15th consecutive match as a skipper. Steve Smith-led RR has no other choice but to win all their remaining games. MI defeated RR in the reverse future they played in the same venue by 57 runs.
MI became the first side to defeat CSK by 10 wickets in the IPL and in the process almost knocking the 3 time champs out of the IPL. Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah dismantled the CSK’s top order taking 6 wickets between them. In the absence of Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan scored a quickfire 50 coming in his spot in the company of Quinton De Kock who has been in amazing form.
For RR it’s another season where they are about to miss out on reaching playoffs. Despite scoring only 154 runs batting first, Jofra Archer’s opening spell where he took wickets of Warner & Bairstow and gave his team hopes of making a comeback. But the partnership between Pandey and Vijay Shankar took the game away from them handing them their 7th defeat.
Key Players
Batsman – Quinton De Kock, Ishan Kishan, Jos Butter, and Sanju Samson.
The makeshift opening pair of De Kock and Ishan Kishan shared an unbeaten 115 runs partnership last game and looked in great touch. While Kishan has been inconsistent, De Kock has scored 4 50’s in his last 6 games and is the leading run-getter for MI this season. Jos Buttler has played 2 great innings this season but has been hit or miss in the others. The same goes for Samson who has not contributed since his Sharjah exploits in the first 2 games.
All Rounder- Rahul Tewatia, Ben Stokes, Nathan Coulter Nile, and Krunal Pandya.
Rahul Tewatia is one of the finds of the tournament and proved to be match-winner for them but others have not stepped up. RR will hope that the left-hander has another one or two such performances left in his tank. Ben Stokes has not proved his worth either with the bat or ball but he is arguably one of the finest all-rounders in the world of cricket. Nathan Coulter Nile has not been that impressive so far as we know him and may very well lose his spot to Pattinson if he does not pick wickets. Krunal Pandya has had a mediocre IPL compared to the other MI players and will want to step up.
Bowlers – Kartik Tyagi, Jofra Archer, Jasprit Bumrah, and Rahul Chahar.
Jofra Archer is the only shining light for the RR team with the ball and along with Kartik Tyagi, he has given some respectability to an otherwise poor bowling performance so far. Both of them will play a huge role in this RR’s side going forward not just this season. Jasprit Bumrah has come back to the rhythm which is good not only for MI but also for India. He is in line to be a possible winner of the orange cap this season. Rahul Chahar has been one of the stand out leg spinners in this tournament and has an important role to play in the coming games.
Battles to look forward
- Rahul Chahar vs Jos Buttler
- Jasprit Bumrah vs Ben Stokes
- Jofra Archer vs Quinton De Kock
Jos Buttler tends to struggle against the leg-spinner early on n the piece and Rahul Chahar will be touch customer to face for the under pressure batsmen. Jasprit Bumrah up against the world’s best batsman and best all-rounder Smith & Stokes respectively will be a treat to watch. The Indian pacer is in top form and RR duo may find it difficult to tackle him. Jofra Archer has been stunning with new ball and he has the most dot balls in this IPL. Can he keep a rampaging De Kock quiet, we need to wait and see.
Head to Head between MI and RR.
- Matches Played: 24
- MI Won: 12
- RR won: 11
Significant Approaching Milestones.
1- Jasprit Bumrah need 1 more scalps to reach 100 IPL wicket mark.
27- Krunal Pandya needs 27 runs to complete 1000 career IPL runs.
37- Kieron Pollard needs 37 more runs to reach 3000 runs milestone in IPL.
44- Ishan Kishan needs 44 more runs to reach 3000 runs milestone in IPL. Read here, the list of top IPL runs scorers.
Match conditions
Venue: Sheikh Zayed cricket stadium, Abu Dhabi.
Date & Timings: October 23, 2020, at 7.30 PM IST.
Weather: Clear with the temperature around 32 C.
Pitch: Likely to be a slow batting surface with possible due later on.
