Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals
With a change in venue, both teams, with contrasting problems, look to start afresh. Mumbai Indians, the defending champions and five-time winners, dominated IPL 2020 with their destructive batting through each phase of their lineup and overs. But the same personnel found it difficult to clear the ropes on the notoriously slower pitches of Chepauk, managing only two wins in five games. Rajasthan Royals, on the other hand, too have their batting to blame, besides being low on personnel owing to Covid issues, managing as many wins as Mumbai in five matches.
6.79 has been Mumbai's run rate in the death overs, almost half of what the team had recorded last season, and the lowest among all teams this season. And this can be more significantly shown through their scores in the last four overs - 24 runs in their season opener against Royal Challengers Bangalore, 23 runs in their game against Delhi Capitals, and 26 runs on Friday in the game against Punjab Kings. But will the Delhi track change their fortune? Since 2015, the have won two of their five games at the venue.
For Rajasthan, who have witnessed the exit of injured Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer, Liam Livingstone and Andrew Tye, will now have to rely on their domestic sources to pull things back on track.
Head-to-head tie: Both teams have been inseparable in their 24 T20 meetings, with either side pulling off 12 wins each. However, Mumbai Indians have managed only one win against Rajasthan in their last five meetings. Both sides previously met only once at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, back in 2013/14 season in the presently-defunct Champions League Twenty20, and Mumbai had defeated the Royals by 33 runs.
Teams batting second have won six of the last eight IPL games at the venue and Mumbai have not yet chased in a game this season. Although they would fancy batting first against the Royals, having managed only 4 wins against them batting second and winning 8 while batting first.
Tactics and match-ups:
1. Should Rajasthan look to bring back Shreyas Gopal? Both Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock have been vulnerable against leg-spinners in the PowerPlay. De Kock averages only 15 with a strike rate of 62.5 against the variety in the first six overs while Rohit averages 14.5 since 2019. Gopal has also dismissed Rohit twice in 13 balls in the last two seasons for just 15 runs and has dismissed De Kock only once in 28 balls for just 18 runs.
2. Buttler's form has been concern this season, having scored only 89 runs in 70 balls in five innings. However, Buttler will now be up against his favourite opposition. In four matches against Mumbai, he has scored 259 runs in 148 balls at a strike rate of 175 with three half-centuries. However, he should be wary of Bumrah who has dismissed in three times in T20 cricket in just 30 balls for 32 runs. Bumrah also has an edge over Sanju Samson - two dismissals in 43 balls for 46 runs - as doesn Trent Boult - two dismissals in 16 balls for 16 runs.
