IPL 9, Match 29 RPS v MI Preview: Maharashtra derby encounter in Pune

The Rising Pune Supergiants will play their last home game at the MCA Stadium, Pune in this edition of the IPL. The home venue hasn’t quite been the fortress that RPS would have liked. The crowds have been great and it is the last chance for MS Dhoni led Supergiants to finally give the home crowd something to cheer about.

The Rising Pune Supergiants have been struggling to get their act together, especially with key players getting injured at the peak time. Ajinkya Rahane has been in a good touch but played on a rather slower side. Steve Smith’s century in the previous game will surely give a boost for the home side. They desperately seek a win to remain in the hunt for the playoffs. The Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, have crawled up the points table. To ensure that they stay up there, they need to beat Pune in Pune.

Team News-

Mumbai Indians:

The Mumbai Indians are a happy dugout at the moment. With a thumping win over the Kolkata Knight Riders in their previous match, the defending champions are high on confidence. Every batsman has been amongst the runs apart from Hardik Pandya, who is yet to deliver, in the tournament so far. In the last few matches, what has been the key to Mumbai’s success, 3 wins in last 4 matches, is that on every occasion some or the other player has put their hands up and performed.

Jerome Taylor has joined the squad in place of injured Lasith Malinga but might not get a game so soon as the team looks balanced, especially the bowling unit.

With Kieron Pollard back in form, the team has only got stronger. Another plus point for the Mumbai Indians is having their 3 frontline pacers among the top 10 leading wicket takers this season. Mumbai is likely to play the same side in the match against Pune, despite change of conditions and pitch.

Rising Pune Supergiants:

Nothing has been going right for the Rising Pune Supergiants. They have lost two close last over thrillers in their last 3 encounters. Injuries have plagued the side too. As per the reports, Usman Khawaja has joined the side and might make his IPL debut in the match against MI. However, it is not the batting that has been faltering for the Supergiants. Rahane has been in a good run and so has Steve Smith. MS Dhoni and Thisara Perera have got starts too.

Pune can take confidence from the fact that they had defeated the Mumbai Indians in their previous encounter.

The bowling looks very weak at the moment as they do not have any bowler who can contain runs in the death or in the powerplay. Perera has been unsuccessful in defending 8 and 9 runs on two occasions in the last overs. The worrying factor is there seems to be no other alternative for skipper Dhoni other than going for the same bowling attack. Deepak Chahar and Irfan Pathan are warming the bench but are very unlikely to make it to the playing eleven at Pune. Will they play Scott Boland? Unlikely.

Probable XI

Mumbai Indians:

Rohit Sharma (C), Parthiv Patel (wk), AmbatiRayudu, Krunal Pandya, Jos Buttler, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Harbhajan Singh, Tim Southee, Mitch McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah

Rising Pune Supergiants:

Ajinkya Rahane, Saurabh Tiwary, Steve Smith, Peter Handscomb/Usman Khawaja, Mitchell Marsh, MS Dhoni (C), Thisara Perera, Rajat Bhatia, Ravichandran Ashwin, Murugan Ashwin, Ashok Dinda

StAttack:

1. Rising Pune Supergiants are yet to win a match at the MCA stadium, Pune.

2. Kieron Pollard has hit 398 sixes in T20 and if he hits a couple more, he will become the second batsman in the history of T20s to his 400 sixes. Chris Gayle tops the list with 637 sixes to his name.

3. RPS have had 9 fifty-plus partnerships and 8 of them had their openers involved.

4. Rohit Sharma, while batting first in this edition of the IPL, has scored only 19 runs in 4 matches.