Abu Dhabi : Mumbai Indians (MI) will take on Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Dream11 Indian Premier League (IPL) match at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium here on Tuesday.
MI will be eyeing their third win in a row, having beaten Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in their last two games.
While the Rohit Sharma-led side defeated SRH by 34 runs after scoring 208, they came out triumph against KXIP, beating KL Rahul and Co. by 48 runs.
RR, on the other hand, registered two wins from as many games at the start of the tournament against KXIP and Chennai Super Kings (CSK). But then lost their last two games ? against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), and against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
RR will be keen to break the two-match losing streak while MI will be eager to complete a hat-trick of wins to register their fourth win of IPL 2020.
There is nothing to separate these two teams in terms of their head-to-head records. Both ? MI and RR ? have won 10 games against each other in the IPL and one of them will have a chance to go one up and have the players who could impact the outcome of the game.
Hardik Pandya is yet to score a fifty in the IPL 2020, but if the last two games are anything to go by, then Hardk Pandya looks set for a big and an impactful innings. The all-rounder hit a few meaty blows against KKR and SRH, and if he enjoys a good game with the bat, we are surely in for some entertainment.
Jos Buttler has got two back-to-back starts against RCB and KKR and there were some trademark Jos Buttler big hits before being dismissed in the 20s. If the right-handed batsman fires against MI ? a side he played 24 matches for in 2016 and 2017 ? then RR could make a big score.
Quinton de Kock struggled in the first few games with the bat, but returned to form, scoring 67 off 39 balls to set up MI’s win over SRH. The MI wicketkeeper-batsman, who opens the innings alongside Rohit, will be looking for another good outing with the bat.
Sanju Samson started his campaign with two blistering knocks against CSK and KXIP, scoring 74 and 85 respectively. But he was dismissed for single-digit scores in the following games against KKR and RCB. The right-hander will be itching to score big and if he does that, it will be a sight to behold. New Zealand left-arm pacer Trent Boult did a remarkable job with the ball as MI beat SRH in Sharjah, a venue which has produced 200+ plus totals in all the innings barring one in IPL 2020.
Boult returned with the figures of 2/28 in his four overs. While he scalped the wickets of Jonny Bairstow and Kane Williamson in the game against SRH, he will now be up against the likes of Smith and Jos Buttler and if he manages to succeed against the two, MI will be in with a chance to win the game.
Playing his first game of the IPL 2020, Mahipal Lomror was RR’s top run-getter against RCB. The left-hander scored 47 off 39 balls, hitting a four and three sixes. He will be looking to score more and contribute to the team’s cause.
Rohit Sharma needs 86 runs to complete 4,000 IPL runs for MI, Suryakumar Yadav is 2 sixes away from completing 50 IPL sixes, Jos Buttler needs 67 runs to complete 1,500 IPL runs. He also is 94 runs away from completing 1,000 IPL runs for RR and Sanju Samson needs 3 catches and 120 runs respectively to complete 50 IPL catches and 2,500 IPL runs. (AGENCIES)
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