IPL 5 – Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings - Match Preview
Defending champions of the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), Chennai Super Kings started the current season very slowly and failed to find early momentum. However, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028 and company have got their act together in the latter
half of the tournament, and are now considered amongst the favourites to lift the title once again.
Chennai will take on another high-profile team, Mumbai Indians, at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, in the 49th fixture of the league on Sunday. The two teams are full of match-winners and the cricket analysts are expecting this to be a nail-biting
encounter.
The visitors are currently placed at number four on the points table with 11 points after as many matches. Whereas, Mumbai is just ahead of the Super Kings with 12 points after 10 matches. In order to gain supremacy, both the teams will come out hard to
grab two crucial points to enhance their chances of qualifying for the play-off stage of the tournament.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SK-Raina-c2539 is one of the most important players for the Super Kings but he has failed to convert his starts into big knocks this season. The left-hander can be a devastating batsman in the shortest format of the game and he is the player to 'watch-out'
for in this all-important fixture.
While talking to the media on Saturday, Raina expressed that his team’s biggest strength is fielding but admitted that Chennai needs to improve in other aspects of the game in order to defend the title for the second time in a row.
The left-handed batsman expressed that his team is struggling to score freely during the middle-overs against quality spinners and if his team is to win against stronger franchises, the Super Kings’ middle-order needs to fire.
"We have the best fielding unit in the tournament but still there are areas we need to improve like with our direct throws. For a team, there is always some scope for improvement. We need to bat really well in that period. Today, the plan was that the top
three should go and get a good start, which we did. One of them could have been there till the 16th over,” he said.
The pitch at Mumbai has favoured seam bowlers in the current season and run-scoring has been extremely hard. However, Raina thinks that as a professional cricketer, he has to play on all kinds of surfaces.
Raina added, "Frankly, I didn't understand the wickets here and the practice pitches were always different from the ones we played on but I can't complain about it."
On the other side of the coin, Mumbai Indians are struggling with fitness issues. Their premier all-rounder, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KA-Pollard-c1754 injured his right shoulder earlier in the tournament and is not likely to play against the Supers Kings.
Mumbai has been inconsistent in the batting department and the likes of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ambati-Rayudu-c1007 is the only batsman of Mumbai, who has been consistent in the tournament so far and has delivered
the goods under pressure. The right-handed batsman might not have played big knocks, but his 20s and 30s have been crucial for Mumbai’s cause.
This fixture between two of the best teams of the tournament sounds like a mouth-watering one and it is not possible to rate one team as favourite. Let us hope that the pitch of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820 plays well and we witness a high-scoring encounter.
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