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CSK vs MI: A do-or-die situation for Mumbai against Dhoni's men

Chennai is in superb form, and Mumbai - despite going close so many times - are simply not. Given both teams' results so far, this could be another close one.

CSK vs MI: A do-or-die situation for Mumbai against Dhoni's men

Defending champions Mumbai Indians, who have got off to a terrible start in IPL 2018, will be facing Chennai Super Kings in a rematch of the first game of the competition. Chennai Super Kings have been on a roll, winning five out of the six matches they have played so far in the competition, while Mumbai has the exact opposite record after playing six games, which has placed them in the seventh position in the IPL 2018 points table. MI has a massive task on their hands to turn things around.

In a game of fine margins, Mumbai Indians have lost five of their opening six games, but it could have been so very different. They lost their first match to Chennai Super Kings by one wicket with one ball remaining, then went even closer against Sunrisers Hyderabad, who won by one wicket off the last ball of the game. Next up, Delhi Daredevils beat them in the last ball of the game, despite Mumbai posting 194/6 from their 20 overs, before they finally earned a win - 213/6 proving 46 runs too much for Royal Challengers Bangalore to chase down. They could not follow that victory up, however, losing in the last over against Rajasthan Royals before a low-scoring defeat to Sunrisers Hyderabad in their most recent game at the Wankhede Stadium. The home team were dismissed for 87, chasing just 119 to win.

CSK vs MI: A do-or-die situation for Mumbai against Dhoni's menCSK vs MI Team News

Chennai Super Kings

  • CSK will be happy with their team performance but could re-assess the role of certain individuals in their side.
  • Sam Billings, Ravindra Jadeja and Harbhajan Singh are not certain starters for the Super Kings.

Mumbai Indians

  • MI would be worried that a player of Evin Lewis‘ quality is not able to make big scores.
  • Kieron Pollard is another Mumbai Indians player who has been scrutinised for his ordinary performances thus far.

CSK vs MI Key Players

Chennai Super Kings:

  • Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni are two CSK batsmen with more than 200 runs in the tournament.
  • Shardul Thakur is the most successful bowler for the Super Kings.

Mumbai Indians:

  • Suryakumar Yadav has accumulated 230 runs in 6 innings, which includes two 50+ scores.
  • Markande is the leading wicket-taker in the tournament, with 10 wickets in the bag.

CSK vs MI Head to Head

Chennai's victory in the opening game of this year's Indian Premier League was their 12th in the Super-Indian Derby, compared to Mumbai's 13 victories in this fixture. Three of those fixtures have come in the IPL final, with Mumbai winning two.

Mumbai won three in a row against Chennai in the 2015 Indian Premier League, before Chennai's two-year ban from the tournament, but Chennai captain MS Dhoni has a great record in this fixture. Dhoni has scored 488 runs in the fixture, at an average of 44.36, with a strike rate of more than 150.

Match prediction

Records from other seasons wouldn't play a prominent role here since neither the teams nor the venue has remained the same. Playing just one match in Pune, CSK is just as new to the conditions as the MI team. If something will make a difference, then it is the mindset or the morale of the players. It would be only fair to say that the Chennai franchise walks into the battle with a better scope.

Probable Playing XI :

Chennai Super Kings: Shane Watson, Ambati Rayudu, Suresh Raina, Sam Billings/Faf du Plessis, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Harbhajan Singh/Karn Sharma, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir

Mumbai Indians: Suryakumar Yadav, Ewin Lewis, Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Krunal Pandya, JP Duminy/Ben Cutting/Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Mitchell McCleanaghan, Mayank Markande, Jasprit Bumrah, Mustafizur Rahman

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