The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will take on Mumbai Indians (MI) in the qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2013 at Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi on Tuesday. The winner of the match will go to the final while the losing team will meet the winner of the eliminator round to be played between Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Overview:
Both CSK and MI scored 22 points each from 16 matches, but the former topped the table because of better run-rate. They come into the contest after conceding defeats in their respective previous games - RCB beat CSK by four runs and KXIP beat MI by 50 runs.
CSK are perhaps the most consistent team this season, and they hold the record of entering the Playoff in the IPL tournament held till date. However, they have bad record against MI, and they were defeated in their two meetings earlier this season.
Previous Meeting:
The teams have met 13 times in the past and MI have defeated CSK on eight occasions. They beat the Chennai franchise in both the meetings earlier this season.
Team News:
Chennai Super Kings: Murali Vijay (32) and MS Dhoni (24) gave a spirited fight in the previous match against RCB which was reduced to eight overs due to rain. They performed well in the earlier game too. Michael Hussey and Suresh Raina are in good form this season and their performance will be crucial to the team.
On the bowling front, they have Albie Morkel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Dwayne Bravo, Mohit Sharma, Chris Morris, Dirk Nannes, Ankit Rajpoot, and Jason Holder. Their performance this season has been impressive, and they will be expected to restrict the score of the opponents in the first Playoff game.
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Aditya Tare and Kieron Pollard were the main contributors in the previous game which they lost. Dinesh Karthik is in good form this season, and his contribution will be crucial in the Playoffs too. Sachin Tendulkar contributed in a few matches, and his presence will boost the confidence of the team.
Mitchell Johnson's performance this season has been outstanding, and other bowlers like Lasith Malinga, Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha too have found the rhythm as the tournament progresses. They also have Dhawal Kulkarni, Abu Nechim, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Rishi Dhawan in the line-up.
Prediction:
MI are a well balanced side besides good record against CSK. MI are the favourites in the qualifier 1.As well as the Super favorite Captain Dhoni is with Chennai 2 times champion Will put their best to become 3rd time champion... It's gonna be Fight between the Best's of the Best.
Squads:
Chennai Super Kings: MS Dhoni (C), Albie Morkel, Srikkanth Anirudha, Ankit Rajpoot, Baba Aparajith, Ben Hilfenhaus, Ben Laughlin, Chris Morris, Dirk Nannes, Dwayne Bravo, Francois du Plessis, Imtiyaz Ahmed, Jason Holder, Michael Hussey, Mohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, Nuwan Kulasekara, R Karthikeyan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ronit More, Shadab Jakati, Subramaniam Badrinath, Suresh Raina, Vijay Shankar, Wriddhiman Saha
Mumbai Indians: Ricky Ponting (captain), Abu Nechim Ahmed, Akshar Patel, Aditya Tare, Aiden Blizzard, Ambati Rayudu, Amitoze Singh, Dhawal Kulkarni, Dinesh Karthik, Dwayne Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Harbhajan Singh, Jacob Oram, Jalaj Saxena, James Franklin, Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Mitchell Johnson, Munaf Patel, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Phil Hughes, Pawan Suyal, Pragyan Ojha, Rishi Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Sachin Tendulkar, Suryakumar Yadav, Sushant Marathe, Yuzvendra Singh Chahal
Update: CSK Through to Finals ....
