Can Mumbai Indians take down Chennai Super Kings' Chepauk fortress?
Super Kings haven't lost a home game this season, but they have lost five of their last seven meetings with their biggest rivals
MS Dhoni with Rohit Sharma at the toss • BCCI
Big picture
#ElClassico of @IPL is here folks pic.twitter.com/5OuFWRTJE4
— Rohit Sharma (@ImRo45) April 25, 2019
In the news
Likely XIs
Previous meeting
Strategy punt
- Quinton de Kock has been a force for Mumbai at the top of the order, having made 378 runs in ten games. He's coming into this match with four consecutive 30-plus scores, including two fifties. But this year, he has managed only 114 off 99 balls against spin while being dismissed four times in eight innings. In the IPL since 2015, de Kock has lost his wicket 13 times in 25 innings to spinners. Super Kings could introduce spin early to counter the de Kock threat. Harbhajan Singh, who has had plenty of Powerplay success against left-handers, will be the obvious choice for this match-up.
- Suryakumar Yadav might be one of Mumbai's biggest assets, but this season he hasn't really taken off, particularly struggling in the middle overs against spin. In nine innings, he's lost his wicket three times to spinners and has scored just 107 off the 91 balls he's faced from them. A possible fix for this could be Mumbai sending in Ishan Kishan or Kieron Pollard earlier. Kishan has been aggressive against spinners, striking at 163.1 since 2018 in the IPL, while Pollard's best scores (83 v Kings XI and 46 not out v Sunrisers) this season have come when he's walked out within the first 12 overs of the innings.
Stats that matter
- Hardik has an average of 42 in the death overs and has been striking at 207.9 in this phase in nine innings.
- Raina needs one more fifty to bring up 50 fifties in T20s and one more catch to get to 100 catches in the IPL.
- Dhoni is one big hit away from 200 sixes for Chennai Super Kings.
Sruthi Ravindranath is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo