The MI match was one of the virtual derbies of the tournament over the years, against Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Mumbai: As Mumbai Indians (MI) return to the Wankhede Stadium, both they and their next rivals, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), won’t be too pleased by the manner in which things have gone for them in their previous games. It was not just that both sides lost, it was the way things went down for them that would be pinching. Plus, with the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 getting towards the elimination stages, each point is important, and the losses haven’t helped either side leapfrog into the top four, at least for now. Hardly a situation that either side would want.
The MI match was one of the virtual derbies of the tournament over the years, against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). Over the years, MI have held an edge, but the last match was one of their most humbling losses to this rival.
From skipper Rohit Sharma getting another duck, even after coming at No. 3 instead of opening, to rather underwhelming performances by most batters barring Nehal Wadera, it was a poor show all around and their 139-run challenge was just not enough against CSK. Quite a let-down for the strongest batting line-up of IPL 2023.
RCB too were sent packing in Virat Kohli’s ‘home’ match at the Ferozshah Kotla by Delhi Capitals (DC), in a manner that won’t go down well.
Kohli got another half-century, but his strike rate was not the best. It was thanks to Mahipal Lomror’s 29-ball 54 not out that RCB reached a challenging 187.
But DC have found some new gears off late and they crunched in the most convincing manner as DC’s imports were in the fight, with Phil Salt hammering the RCB bowlers all around.
On top of that, RCB once more saw on-field eyeball-to-eyeball contests as Mohammed Siraj got into a rather heated altercation with DC skipper David Warner and Salt. Not that it helped in any way.
So now, RCB find themselves at No. 5 spot on the points table, with 10 points and better run-rate than MI, who are one step below.
Worryingly for MI, they have lost three of their last five matches, hardly the best returns when they are still trying to clamber up, Even RCB have suffered two losses in the last three games.
MI have in four matches before the one with CSK conceded over 200 runs in the field. Their strong batting has enabled them to win two of these games, but two others have gone away. Hardly a very confident reflection of their bowling.
Cameron Green and Jofra Archer, especially the latter, are not convincing, and only Piyush Chawla has been consistent for MI. They need more from their senior bowlers.
As for RCB, the old disease of not scoring enough once Faf du Plessis, Kohli and Glenn Maxwell depart stays. Knocks like the one from Lomror have been rare and Dinesh Karthik is floundering with both batting and keeping gloves.
Not a pretty picture for either, but big teams always tend to rally when it matters the most. Their contest will be good news for one of the sides. The other will have to find their magic elsewhere.