Week 9 - Match 4 - Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings

Welcome to the Wankhede Stadium, home of the Mumbai Indians.

Pitch Conditions: A fairly hard pitch with a touch of green on top which will offer swing to the fast and medium pace bowlers especially at the beginning of each of the innings with the new ball. Very little spin off of the pitch however spinners who can cramp up the batsmen may do very well. However, when all is said and done the pitch should be a great track to bat on.

-----

Please post tactics below...

'very little spin' - surprise...

Only playing. This should suit Ajmal and Mendis then as my spinners, given that they always cramp the batsmen up, and have unerring accuracy.

Southee and Nannes should make great use of the swing and green top up front, really suits their style.

Might have to open with Hussey, someone with the right technique to negate any swing...

Good game this, close one.

this is going to be tough to call

much tougher than i thought it would be

Overseas players likely to be Hussey, Nannes, Ajmal, Mendis and Southee.

Afridi likely to sit this one out, given the conditions I feel Ajmal and Mendis are more suited i.e. cramping batsmen up.

Thought it was a belter of a pitch fists. Doesn't suit either side too heavily with spinners still having a part to play.

First thoughts overseas likely to be Gul, Malinga, Pollard, VDM and Sammy/Dilshan

Yeah glad that there is a bit in it for every type of bowler.

I could have done with this pitch against Chennai.

i reckon you could play Jakati here fists

he dosent turn the ball much, but he offers control on a pitch that isnt spinning much

i think mumbai's batsmen will like this pitch, against chennai's seam attack..

but be intresting to see the 2 sides.

Nobody is going to like Dirk Nannes when I cattle prod him prior to walking out to bowl, making him extremely angry and bowling at 95 mph

Jakati might be in with a chance of playing cf yep, a good economical spinner and a decent batsman, too.

he no longer bowls 95, he sometimes now just gets to 90 if he's lucky

to be fair he's 36 years old lol

and yh jakati should play.

Provisional squad:

1) Sachin (c)
2) Ryder/Dhawan
3) Dilshan
4) Rohit
5) Manoj
6) Pollard
7) VDM/Sammy/Shah
8) Harbajhan
9) Gul
10) Malinga
11) Munaf

CF, I watched him in the CLT20 final and he was bowling consistently at 91-92, went at about 4 per over in that particular game against some top batsmen.

Southee will definitely be returning for this match. High quality seam/swing bowler and destructive lower order hitter.

i do really like the look of that mumbai side

gonna be much closer than i first thought, and genuinely will find it tough to pick a winner.

Provisional

Hussey
Vijay
Badrinath
Raina
Dhoni
Afridi
Jakati
Southee
Ashwin
Nannes
Mendis

May change to accommodate Ajmal instead of Afridi, but can't remember my squad off the top of my head so will check my spreadsheet when I am at home. Need to think about my tactics, which will alter the team quite a bit probably.

Jakati at 7 is too high. I agree he should play, but not batting at 7.

He is a legitimate all-rounder...7 is fine, anyway, that isn't my batting order or my final lineup, I might spring a tactical surprise or two.

Ashwin is a better batsman than jakati

I really think I might give Ryder his debut here, his medium pace could be very very effective... but that would mean leaving out Sammy and VDM!

Choices choices!

if your picking ryder purely for his bowling, then sammy would be the better choice

Ryder adds more to the team with his batting tho... with Sammy I only bat down to 6 with 5 bowlers

if i was you gregers, i would be tempted to play Finn on this pitch.

Finn would probably be too quick for this match...

he cramps the batsman, would make use of the green tinge..

and your never too quick on any pitch.

Agree with CF.

gregers i think your right, about the jesse Ryder, darren sammy issue.

I can't really fit Finn in


Overseas likely to be:
Gul
Malinga
Dilshan
Pollard
Ryder

hmm i suppose mumbai do have a lot of class overseas players lol.

Aaargh!

VDM or Ryder its such a hard decision!

Mumbai Indians:

1) Sachin Tendulkar (c)
2) Jesse Ryder - O
3) Tilikaratne Dilshan - O
4) Rohit Sharma - U25
5) Manoj Tiwary - U25
6) Kieron Pollard - O U25
7) Pinal Shah (wk) - U25
8) Harbhajan Singh
9) Umar Gul - O
10) Lasith Malinga - O
11) Munaf Patel

Toss - Bat first, this will allow us to set a big total on a pitch which should be a great track to bat on. Furthermore we have the bowlers who can restrict the Chennai Batsman and keep them behind the rate.

Bat: Tendulkar needs to introduction and will have no problems with the slight swing early on. Ryder comes in for his Mumbai debut and he is a player who thrives on pressure. Whats more he loves pace on the ball and will look to tee off as early as possible, Ryder will look to target Southee in particular. With Dilshan at three we should be able to set off at a high run rate. Rohit and Manoj are hugely talented and just as with the top 3 are expert players of spin. Pollard and Shah will look to hit out in the last few overs when Southee returns. Harby, Gul and Malinga can all swing a bat if needed, however with our batting line up they shouldn't be required.

Bowl: We will open the bowling with Munaf Patel who will use the swing off of the pitch perfectly. This pitch is ideal for him and he will look to target Vijay who has been found out many times in the past with the swinging ball. Malinga will bowl the opening two overs from the other end. Munaf will bowl 2 before being replaced by Umar Gul. All of my frontline seamers will pose different problems to the Chennai batsmen and we will hopefully have them 2 down by the end of the powerplay. The final powerplay over will be bowled by Harby who is an expert bowler in the powerplay. Harby will bowl his 4 overs straight out, he will look to cramp up the batsmen as well as using all of his experience and variations. Gul will be replaced by Jesse Ryder who will bowl one over using his cutters as well as his experience with swinging the ball. He will then be replaced by Pollard who will bowl very tightly and force the batsmen to make a mistake. Depending on whose over has gone the best they will get a second over (the 11th over). The 13th and 15th overs will then be bowled by Dilshan, Dilshan is a great t20 bowler especially in pressure situations. He will look to cramp and outthink the batsmen. The 14th over will be bowled by one of Munaf, Pollard or Ryder depending on who has had the best of the match. The final 5 will, as usual, be bowled by Malinga and Gul who are the most formidable death bowling partnership in the competition. They will (hopefully!) stifle the Chennai chase and will see us home and into the Semi Finals!

Overs -
Munaf - 2/3 overs (1,3,(14))
Malinga - 4 overs (2,4,17,19)
Gul - 4 overs (5,16,18,20)
Harby - 4 overs (6,8,10,12)
Ryder - 1/2/3 over(s) (7,(11),(14))
Pollard - 1/2/3 over(s) (9,(11),(14))
Dilshan - 2 overs (13,15)

that is a very impressive batting line up gregers.

Cheers CF, thought I needed the extra batsman against Chennai

Really feel I have a chance of getting something from this game

i think u have a great chance, but im not gonna say who's gonna win till i see tactics toss etc.

Enough ass kissing going on here chaps or what?

Conspiracy, I tell thee...

pfft

Lol, although I think I've put out a great squad for this match

Chennai Super Kings:

1. Mike Hussey
2. Vijay
3. MS Dhoni (c)(wk)
4. Raina
5. Badrinath
6. Srikkanth
7. Shahid Afridi
8. Tim Southee
9. R Aswhin
10. Dirk Nannes
11. Ajantha Mendis

Toss: Bat first - set a big total which our bowlers can use all of their craft, guile and skill to keep Mumbai from sticking with the required rate.

Batting - Mike Hussey opens again, a move to negate any hint of swing that may be on show early on, given that he possesses an extremely tight technique against it. Vijay will look to tee off immediately (particularly against the loose bowling of Munaf Patel) in more of a pinch hitting role, given the huge amount of support he has coming in after him so will be aiming to smash and grab some quick runs and get us off to a flyer. The tactical surprise this week is the promotion of MS Dhoni into the all important number 3 slot. Dhoni has arguably the fastest set of hands in world cricket with the bat, and will therefore have a means of scoring runs against the yorkers of Malinga and Gul, and likewise the very out of form and unreliable Harbhajan Singh should suffer at his hands. Raina, Badrinath, Srikkanth and Afridi should have some joy against the average medium pace of Pollard, Ryder, the part time spin of Dilshan and the aforementioned Harbhajan on this pitch. For me, accuracy is key here, and none of those bowlers are known for that. Expect some destruction in the middle overs. Southee and Ashwin provide lower order hitting, with Southee in particular being well known for clearing the ropes.

Bowling - Looking at the Mumbai batting lineup, there is clearly some strength, however their one failure is players with the ability to play spin in the middle overs. Ryder, Dilshan, Pollard, Tiwary and Rohit have all had their problems in hitting those big shots off the spinners, and the metronomic accuracy and the variation in the bowling of Mendis, Ashwin and Afridi will look to cramp and stifle their strokemaking. Up front, Nannes and Southee will share an over each with the new ball, with Ashwin coming on to bowl if either one takes some tap in their opener, given his huge recent success of bowling in powerplay overs when asked to by MS Dhoni, who has complete faith in his abilities. Sachin Tendulkar is probably due a failure in this competition, given that he seems to have scored 4,000 each match, but in all seriousness his technique against swing is not what it once was, as displayed in England earlier this year against James Anderson, and as such Southee will look to exploit that whilst Nannes concentrates on bowling fast and straight. Spin will be introduced earlier if Ryder gets off to a good start, to induce him into playing one big shot too many. The aim in the middle overs is to cramp the batsmen with the spinners along with Southee, before Nannes and Ashwin bowl the final 4 overs. The change of pace at the death, along with the variations and accuracy of Ashwin should see some success.

Mendis has a huge role to play, given his outstanding T20 economy and strike rate, so he along with Afridi and Ashwin are my match winners once the seamers have exposed any swing on offer, and of course the recent frailties of Sachin (hopefully) !

Good game this.

I love how we assassinate each others teams in the tactics haha, friendship goes out the window in the IPL!!

http://www.espncricinfo.com/pakistan-v-sri-lanka-2011/content/current/story/541293.html

My man Afridi on fine form!!

I didn't realise harby was out of form... Cough champions league cough. And my team love playing spin Lol.

In all seriousness good luck fists, should be a cracker of a game

jeez, this will be the toughest game of the tournament to call IMO.

Two immensely talented T20 teams, if this was real life it'd be an absolute barnstormer.

Ok Gregers will revise my stance on Harby...not out of form as such, just completely past it and a shadow of his former self!

as is dirk nannes

My man Dirk still has the performances in him, CLT20 final COUGH COUGH COUGH, haha

Haha, in all seriousness this would be a match I would pay to see!

So much talent on show

whoever wins this game, will win the tournament IMO.

because of the sheer strength of the sides.

A lot depends on the conditions, cf. If the conditions are completely different i.e. a fast bowlers paradise, a bunsen burner, or an absolute road then the outcome has the potential to be vastly different in each one of those scenarios.