In the wake of their latest defeat against Rajasthan Royals, Chennai are all but out of contention for a place in the play-offs. They still have a mathematical chance of going through, but it is a very slim one. CSK need to give it all they have from hereon, and hope for the best. The task would be tougher with their experienced all-rounder Dwayne Bravo being ruled out. However, CSK need to take a call on Kedar Jadhav and Piyush Chawla, who clearly seem past their past.
The form of Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson has been among the few positives for Chennai. Ambati Rayudu has also got a few runs. But, as a team, they have failed to fire. It hasn’t helped that skipper MS Dhoni has looked completely out of touch. CSK have also wasted the services of Ravindra Jadeja down the order, who has actually looked the most fluent among the team’s batsmen.
Mumbai would go into the contest having lost the nail-biting double Super Over to Kings XI Punjab. However, the defending champions would view the loss as a one-off as they had won five games in a row before that. Wicket-keeper batsman Quinton de Kock has been in superb form for MI while Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav have also been among the runs. Kieron Pollard has got the big hits towards the end while Ishan Kishan and the Pandya brothers have had their moments.
In the bowling department, Jasprit Bumrah has done an excellent job as always. However, Trent Boult was expensive in the last game while Nathan Coulter-Nile hasn’t made much of an impression. So there is a case for James Pattinson coming back in. Leggie Rahul Chahar has impressed with his tight bowling.
Head-to-Head Record: MI have a 18-13 lead over CSK in 31 matches.
CSK Predicted XI: Faf Du Plessis, Shane Watson, Sam Curran, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (Cap) (WK), Kedhar Jadhav, Piyush Chawla, Josh Hazlewood, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar and Karn Sharma
MI Predicted XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton De Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Trent Boult, Rahul Chahar and Jasprit Bumrah
Pitch Report
The pitch at Sharjah has slowed down, and run-making is not as easy as it was at the start of the tournament. Batsmen can still target the smaller boundaries though.
Weather conditions
Temperature will be in the early 30s at the start of the match. Humidity will be 45 per cent.
--Renin Wilben