Royal Challengers Bangalore face off against the Mumbai Indians in an all important clash in the Dream11 IPL. The match between these two franchises has always been a spectacle due to the superstar players on either side. The two teams are often evenly matched and form goes out of question in such a big game. It all comes down to the big players and who steps up ahead of the rest on the given day.
Both the teams have a similar record until now in the season, as both the sides have won one game and lost one game each. Mumbai winning their most recent one whereas Bangalore have lost their most recent one and that too rather embarrassingly. Mumbai have a far superior run-rate of 0.993 compared to RCB’s -2.175, which shall have a psychological impact on the RCB players.
Bangalore do have an advantage as they have played both their games at the same venue in Dubai, as opposed to Mumbai who played their first couple of matches in Abu Dhabi. RCB will know the pitch and the ground much better as compared to their Mumbai counterparts which shall definitely play a major role.
You know he means business when you see the intensity in Captain Kohli’s eyes. 👁🔥 #PlayBold #IPL2020 #WeAreChallengers #Dream11IPL #RCBvMI pic.twitter.com/iQHz6jJFCp
— Royal Challengers Bangalore (@RCBTweets) September 28, 2020
The decision after winning the toss will be a very key one as this edition of the IPL so far has witnessed a trend of the advantage and victory often being claimed by the team’s batting first, especially at the venue of Dubai. RCB and MI both have exceptional talents in their side, however with the Mumbai team seeming to be much more balanced than that of Bangalore we would side with Mumbai Indians edging past in this one.
Ro-aring to get back to work 🏏💙#OneFamily #MumbaiIndians #MI #Dream11IPL #RCBvMI @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/t6U5BdfVGN
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) September 28, 2020
Injury news:
- Morris was unavailable for the Royal Challengers’ first two games because of a side strain. It remains to be seen if he has regained full fitness.
- Similarly, the injured Nathan Coulter-Nile missed Mumbai’s first two matches, but he has resumed training now. It’s understood that he isn’t 100% fit yet.
- Mumbai are cautious about Hardik Pandya’s workload, opting against rushing him into bowling. He made cameos against Chennai Super Kings and Knight Riders, and even pulled off a stunning catch at the boundary to remove Nitish Rana, but he hasn’t bowled in top-flight cricket since September last year after undergoing back surgery.
Important Stats:
- Saini has 13 IPL wickets in 15 IPL matches, of which 10 have come at the death. He also goes at over nine an over (9.2) in the slog overs, yet seems to have more control and variations right now than either of Steyn, Dube or Umesh.
- In four games played at this venue this season, teams have opted to chase and have lost on all four occasions. In 55 T20s at the Dubai international stadium since 2018, the side batting first has won 29 matches.
- Nobody has scored more runs than Quinton de Kock’s 353 in the powerplay since IPL 2019. He also has a fine record against the Royal Challengers, hitting 306 runs in six innings at an average of 51 and strike rate of 157.73.
- Since IPL 2018, the Royal Challengers have lost most wickets against leg-spin (42).
- This will be Kohli’s 150th T20 match as captain. He has so far captained the Royal Challengers 112 times, and the Indian team 37 times.