MI vs CSK Prediction: Toss, Pitch, Cricket Betting Tips for Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings IPL 2020 Match 1

Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings

Indian Premier League 2020, Match 1

Date & Time: 19 September, 2020 at 7:30PM IST

Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi, UAE

MI vs CSK: Who will win?

The wait is finally over! The thirteenth edition of the much-awaited Indian Premier League will get underway on the 19^th of September in Abu Dhabi. The defending champions Mumbai Indians will take on their arch-rivals CSK in the tournament opener. Both these teams are arguably the most consistent T20 teams in world cricket and hence a neck-to-neck encounter is expected. Even though historically Chennai has had the upper hand over Mumbai in the opening matches of the IPL, the current strength of the Mumbai line-up and the absence of Suresh Raina are expected to shift the advantage in favour of the defending champions. So invest in MI if you are in for online cricket betting.

Strength

Mumbai Indians:

• A highly potent top-order batting which has a blend of youth and experience.
• A strong middle order with power-packed finishers.
• Presence of the world’s best death bowler Jasprit Bumrah.

Chennai Super Kings:

• Vastly experienced batting line-up.
• One of the strongest spin attack in the tournament.
• Presence of MS Dhoni, a man with one of the sharpest cricket brains in the world.

Weakness

Mumbai Indians:

• The spin department of Mumbai looks weak compared to the rest of the teams in IPL 2020.
• With the absence of Lasith Malinga, none of their bowlers apart from Bumrah have a decent record in death overs.

Chennai Super Kings:

• The absence of Suresh Raina creates a huge void in the middle order.
• Except for Ravindra Jadeja, there are no left-handers in the batting line-up.
• Dwayne Bravo and Shardul Thakur were expensive at the death last year unless Ngidi comes in death bowling looks weak.
• CSK is an ageing side. With large boundaries in the UAE, their fielding is expected to fall below standards.

Win Prediction

• MI- 60%
• CSK- 40%

Betting odds

Bet365: MI-1.72, CSK-2.10
Betway: MI-1.72, CSK-2.05

Mumbai Indians to win the match

• Mumbai Indians are well balanced than CSK on paper and have very few weaknesses. And hence they are expected to edge over CSK as per today match prediction.
• Rohit Sharma had been in the form of his life before the lockdown, he is expected to continue the same.
• Kieron Pollard is in terrific form. He was the player of the tournament of the recently concluded Caribbean Premier League.

Head to Head (overall)

• Matches Played- 30
• MI – 18
• CSK- 12

Head to Head (in UAE)

• Matches Played- 1
• MI – 0
• CSK – 1

MI VS CSK MATCH PREDICTION

The El-Clasico of the IPL will be played in Abu Dhabi and that itself shifts the advantage in slight favour of the Mumbai Indians. They were stationed here for the last one month and hence have a better understanding of the conditions than CSK, who will be travelling from Dubai to take part in this encounter. Apart from that Mumbai has a well-settled line-up and there are no much selection headaches for Rohit Sharma and co. Quinton De Kock is expected to open the innings with captain Rohit Sharma. They will be followed by Surya Kumar Yadhav, Ishan Kishan and Kieron Pollard in the middle order with the Pandya brothers in charge of the finishing role. As far as the bowling department is concerned Bumrah and Rahul Chahar are sure starters. The toss-up for the next two spots is likely to happen between Mitchell McClenaghan, Trent Boult and Nathan Coulter Nile, with the latter two expected to get the first preference.

CSK on the other hand has too many headaches as far as their team selection is concerned. Ambati Rayudu is expected to cover up Suresh Raina’s void at number three. He will be followed by Dhoni, Jadhav and Jadeja in the middle order. Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur and Lungi Ngidi will make up their pace bowling unit. The toss-up for the spinner’s spot between Piyush Chawla and Imran Tahir will depend on the choice of openers. If Tahir gets the nod ahead of Chawla, then Murali Vijay will pair up with Shane Watson at top of the order. Else Faf will open with Watson and Chawla will play as the lone specialist spinner.

There are some injury concerns regarding the fitness of Dwayne Bravo. He picked up a niggle in the CPL knockouts. If he is fit he will be slotted in at number seven position, else young Sam Curran will replace him.

MI Playing 11- Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult

CSK Playing 11- Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis/Murali Vijay,  Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (c & wk), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Piyush Chawla/Imran Tahir, Lungi Ngidi

Expert free tip:

1. Abu Dhabi is expected to be a spin-friendly pitch and hence it would be wise to pick few spinners in your fantasy team. Ideally go for Rahul Chahar and Imran Tahir, if he plays.
2. Quinton De Kock is far more consistent than Rohit Sharma in T20s. Hence picking him in your fantasy team over the popular Rohit Sharma would give you much greater rewards in grand leagues.

MI vs CSK Toss Prediction and Pitch Report

The pitches in UAE are traditionally on the slower side, with the batting tending to get difficult as innings progress, so the team winning the toss is most likely to bat first. The average first innings score in Abu Dhabi is around 146 and hence the team batting first will aim at scoring close to 150-160 to give themselves any chance in this match.

Predicted first innings score:

If Mumbai Indians bats first: 160-170

If Chennai Super Kings bats first: 140-150

MI vs CSK free cricket betting tips

Players who are expected to perform well as per Dream11 Prediction.

Top Batsmen

MI- Quinton De Kock

Quinton De Kock is one of the most under-rated T20 batsmen. He has the ability to take on the bowlers as well as play the run-a-ball game. With 529 runs from 16 matches, he was one of the consistent performers for MI last year. To add to that his average of 47.33 in UAE, makes him an ideal choice for fantasy teams.

CSK- MS Dhoni

CSK captain MS Dhoni is returning to competitive cricket after a long gap of more than one year. But that doesn’t necessarily take away his credentials as one of the world’s best finishers. In the absence of star batsman Suresh Raina, he is expected to bat himself up the order. And if that’s the case, the chances of seeing vintage Dhoni are quite high.

Other prominent options: Surya Kumar Yadhav, Ambati Rayudu

Top Bowlers

MI- Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah

Even though MI have the services of foreign seamers, these two Indian bowlers are expected to top the bowling charts. Bumrah is sure to have an economical outing. But with batsman expected to take less risk against him, it is Rahul Chahar who is most likely to grab the maximum number of wickets.

CSK-  Deepak Chahar, Imran Tahir

Deepak Chahar is one of the best powerplay bowlers in world cricket right now. His ability to swing the ball both ways makes him a tough bowler.

Considering the balance of CSK line-up, the chances of Imran Tahir getting a game is in dilemma. But if he gets to play, then he is expected to make maximum use of the suitable spin-friendly Abu Dhabi conditions.

Other prominent options: Krunal Pandya, Lungi Ngidi

Most Sixes

MI- Hardik Pandya

CSK- MS Dhoni

With the match expected to go deep, both these hard-hitters are expected to have enough game time to get themselves ready for the power game. Bet on Dhoni to hit the maximum sixes as he is expected to bat higher than Hardik.

Man of the Match

Rahul Chahar

Abu Dhabi is the favourite hunting ground for leg-spinners. An overall average of 17 added with an average economy of just over 6.5, makes it one of the best places in the world to bowl leg-spin. MI’s young leggie Rahul Chahar is expected to exploit these suitable conditions. With Bumrah expected to make the life difficult for batsmen from one end, they will be forced to take risk against young Chahar. So as for cricket betting tips, bet on him to take plenty of wickets.

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