Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will face Mumbai Indians (MI) in ‘Match 33’ of the 2022 Indian Premier League on Thursday at the Dr DY Patil Sports Stadium, Navi Mumbai and the two protagonists will require a win mandatorily to stay afloat, at least in theory, in the tournament.
The defending champions CSK are ninth in the points table with just 2 points from 6 matches while five-time champions MI are 10th with zero points and their net run rate being quite abysmal.
Mumbai needs to win the remaining games with such high margins to take care of the sagging net run rate and they would like to make a beginning here but Chennai too will be ready for an old foe.
What have they done so far?
Mumbai has lost each of their games this IPL season
Mumbai Indians started their campaign against Delhi Capitals, where they came agonisingly close to a victory but were denied by Axar Patel and Lalit Yadav’s spectacular partnership. In their second game, Rohit Sharma’s team suffered a 23-run defeat at the hands of Mumbai Indians.
The boys in blue failed to offer much resilience in their third and fourth fixture, where they suffered comprehensive defeats against Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore. They came close to a victory once again against Punjab Kings and Lucknow Super Giants but eventually fell short by 12 runs and 18 runs respectively.
Chennai Super Kings lost their opening encounter against Kolkata Knight Riders by six wickets, while the margin of defeat was exactly the same in their second match against Lucknow Super Giants. In their third match, Ravindra Jadeja’s men were handed a 54-run drubbing by Punjab Kings.
The Yellow Army failed to offer much resilience in their fourth fixture as well where they suffered an eight-wicket defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad. However, the defending champions finally opened their points tally against a formidable Royal Challengers Bangalore side defeating them by 23 runs before again going down to Gujarat Titans courtesy of a gem of a knock by David Miller and Rashid Khan.
Head to Head Record
Mumbai Indians hold the upper hand against Chennai Super Kings in terms of head-to-head records, as they have won 19 of the 32 meetings against the team from the Southern region of India. Chennai Super Kings, meanwhile, have emerged victorious on 13 occasions. The last completed game between these two sides saw CSK registering a 20 run triumph, with Ruturaj Gaikwad being the star performer for the Men in Yellow.
Key Players
Suryakumar Yadav (Mumbai Indians): Suryakumar Yadav has been one of the most consistent performers for MI. He comes in to bat at the vital ‘No. 3 spot’ for the franchise. He can play the anchor’s role and can play big shots at will. The 31-year-old has scored 200 runs in four matches at a fantastic strike rate of 1548 and is currently the leading run-getter for his side. His best knock came in the game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, where he remained unbeaten on 68.
With skipper Rohit Sharma failing to deliver and mega-money signing Ishan Kishan also not living up to the expectation, the onus has been on Suryakumar Yadav to score the lion’s share of runs for his team.
Shivam Dube has been in sublime form for CSK this season
Shivam Dube (Chennai Super Kings): Shivam Dube might have been expensive with the ball in the two matches where he rolled his arm over, but he has emerged as CSK’s main pillar with the bat. The utility cricketer has scored 226 runs in six matches at an average of 45 and an even better strike rate of over 169 and is currently the tournament’s fifth-highest run-getter.
The left-handed batter’s best performance with the bat came against CSK’s maiden win of the season where he scored an unbeaten 95, while also registering a 30-ball 57 against Punjab Kings, whilst in the preceding clash against Lucknow Super Giants, he scored a 30-ball 49.
Predicted Playing XI
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Dewald Brevis, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Kieron Pollard, Murugan Ashwin, Jaydev Unadkat, Jasprit Bumrah, Basil Thampi
Chennai Super Kings: Robin Uthappa, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja (c), MS Dhoni (wk), Dwayne Bravo, Dwaine Pretorius, Maheesh Theekshana, Mukesh Choudhary
Prediction
This is a match between the number ninth positioned team CSK and the last-placed team in this season’s table MI. Mumbai has not won even once in 6 matches while the Chennai outfit has managed 1 win in 6 matches and looks equally troubled.
Even though MI holds the upper hand in the historic match-up against CSK, we will place the Chennai Super Kings as our pick for the winners in this game.