This is it! This is the stage for the teams who fought their way vigorously over the last 6 weeks. After nearly a month and a half of high-octane T20 cricket, things have boiled down to the final game, where the two Maharashtra neighbours will battle it out in Hyderabad to reign supreme. While the Mumbai Indians aren’t strangers by any means to winning titles, this is the first time that any outfit from Pune is so close to glory.
The campaign so far has been a dominant affair for the Mumbai Indians, having topped the table in the league stage. With 20 points to their name, there was any hardly any flaw that seemed evident in their campaign.
Apart from their Indian core delivering from the beginning, their bowling has been a great revelation and a clear reason behind their strength. Skipper Rohit Sharma would be hoping for one final dominant outing from his side in a bid to get their third trophy in ten editions.
PREVIOUS ENCOUNTER:
The head to head score between these sides lies at 3-0 in favour of the Supergiant outfit. Their latest meeting came in at the Wankhede Stadium in the first qualifier which was a witness to a vintage finish from MS Dhoni. After struggling for a major part of their innings, the men from Pune ended up with decent total thanks to some lusty blows from MS Dhoni lower down the order.
What happened in the second innings, however, was the more shocking part, as Mumbai’s batting imploded against the guile of teenage spinner Washington Sundar. No batsman barring the exception of Parthiv Patel stood up and in all, a miserable effort from Mumbai was witnessed as Pune won comfortably by 20 runs.
Recent form this season:
MI: W, L, W, L, L
RPS: W, W, L, W, W
Talking Points:
Despite a couple of underwhelming outings for him, Ambati Rayudu should be retained for the all important final. The veteran batsman has seen all ups and downs with the Mumbai Indians and has been an integral part of the franchise since 2010. Big players often step up in big games, and this can be the very precise case of Rayudu.
Karn Sharma was exceptional against the Kolkata Knight Riders at Bangalore as he ended up with career best figures of 4-16. As heartbreaking as it may seem for millions, but Karn has done enough to keep someone as institutional as Harbhajan Singh out of the playing XI. With Pune having too many right-handers, Karn will relish bowling at Hyderabad.
MI Predicted XI:
- Lendl Simmons 2. Parthiv Patel (wk) 3. Ambati Rayudu/Nitish Rana 4. Rohit Sharma (c) 5. Krunal Pandya 6. Kieron Pollard 7. Hardik Pandya 8. Karn Sharma 9. Mitchell Johnson 10. Lasith Malinga 11. Jaasprit Bumrah