The epic clash between the Mumbai Indians (MI) and the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) will continue when the two sides face off at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday, May 9. The reverse fixture between the two teams will see MI earn a chance to get revenge on RCB, who beat them comfortably by eight wickets courtesy of the batting of RCB stalwarts Virat Kohli and skipper Faf du Plessis.
With both teams aiming for the third spot to chase down, MI won the toss and chose to bowl first.
Head-to-head
In the 31 matches that the two teams have played in IPL history, MI have prevailed in 17 matches, while RCB have emerged victorious 14 times. But the Bengaluru-based franchise last beat RCB in 2020 and since then, they have lost four consecutive matches against them.
Pitch report
According to Aaron Finch, "I think this (surface) will be an absolute beauty. There's a nice even covering of grass right through, on a red soil wicket, that keeps enough pace in it so it doesn't spin too much. I think it'll spin in the first half, there's just a touch of moisture on top. So it'll get better and better as the game goes on."
What the captains said:
“It's been good for us, we have chased down targets here, it's a good pitch. Looks like a typical Mumbai pitch with even grass covering and also a few patches. Not sure how it's going to play, but we are hoping for the best. We understand the importance of this game, but what's in our control is in our control. We need to play good cricket, rest will take care of itself,” Rohit said after winning the match.
“Generally you chase here because of the nature of this ground. Big score always creates the scoreboard pressure. They have a good batting line-up, hopefully we get wickets in their innings. There are a lot of teams in the race for that third and fourth spot, we need to play good cricket,” he added.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis(c), Anuj Rawat, Glenn Maxwell, Mahipal Lomror, Dinesh Karthik(w), Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Mohammed Siraj, Josh Hazlewood
Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(w), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Chris Jordan, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya, Jason Behrendorff
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