IPL 2020 – Match 20 – MI v RR Betting Preview

Match Details
Mumbai Indians v Rajasthan Royals
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Tuesday, October 6th 2020
16:00 SA Time

Preview

The high-flying Mumbai Indians (MI) face a sliding Rajasthan Royals (RR) in match number 20 of the IPL. These are two teams that have had contrasting times in the last week.

Like every year, the defending champions Mumbai Indians start the tournament indifferently. They had two losses in three games which included a close one in a Super Over to Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Since then, they’ve recorded a couple of convincing wins. MI have racked up big scores and have defended very well. Their batting looks very strong and the bowling department is also getting the job done. After a sluggish start, everything seems to be falling in place for MI as they surge to the top of the log.

On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals started off with a bang, winning two high-scoring games in Sharjah. However, once they moved out of Sharjah, they have struggled. The 2008 IPL champions have lost two games on the bounce and seem to be wobbling at the moment. Their batting is a bit top-heavy. The RR bowling has blown hot and cold and they will want more consistency. At the moment, they are fifth on the points table with four points from as many games (two wins and two losses).

Overall, the head to head record between MI and RR is neck and neck. Both teams have won 10 games each.

Injury and Availability News

Ben Stokes has landed in the UAE but is in quarantine and will miss this match for RR.

Probable Playing XI

Mumbai Indians

Quinton de Kock (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, James Pattinson, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah

Rajasthan Royals

Jos Buttler (wk), Steven Smith (c), Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal/Robin Uthappa, Mahipal Lomror, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Jofra Archer, Tom Curran, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat

Key Players to watch out for

Kieron Pollard: The big man from West Indies has been striking the ball beautifully. He’s been crucial to MI’s success in this tournament so far. Pollard has amassed 163 runs at a strike-rate of 208.97 and has smashed 13 sixes. He will once again be the one to watch out for.

Jasprit Bumrah: The ace Indian fast bowler has blown hot and cold this season. Bumrah has picked up seven wickets but has conceded runs at 8.80 runs an over and is the most expensive MI bowler. It’ll be interesting to see how he will shrug of this inconsistency but there are signs of improvement.

Sanju Samson: The Kerala-born took off like never before this season. Samson scored 74 and 85 in the first two games and looked in fine form. However, he’s had a couple of low scores and that’s been his tendency throughout his IPL career.

Value Bets

Mumbai Indians

Rohit Sharma to be MI’s top batsman at 2.50

Jasprit Bumrah to be MI’s top bowler at 2.00

Rajasthan Royals

Jos Buttler to be RR’s top batsman at 2.50

Jofra Archer to be RR’s top bowler at 2.25

Prediction: Mumbai Indians to win at 0.62.