Bangalore and Mumbai will face each other in the 39th match of the Indian T20 League on Sunday, 26th of September. The match will take place in the Dubai International Stadium. Both the teams are looking for victory as both the teams have played two matches each in the second leg in UAE and both had to face defeat in these matches. In such a situation, it will be interesting to see which team wins today.
Bangalore started off with a bang in the last match against Chennai and even made 100+ opening partnership but still they failed to score big. Although Virat Kohli showed his form by scoring a half-century, the team couldn't perform well as a unit. Devdutt Padikkal's bat is also consistently getting runs but the performance of the team's middle order is a matter of concern for the team. The number three position remains a problem for Bangalore. At number three, the team needs to find a substitute for a capable batsman. AB de Villiers and Glenn Maxwell can prove to be effective on the fast surfaces of Dubai. Tim David can also prove himself on this pitch.
Bangalore's bowling has been very poor in recent matches. Wanindu Hasranga has been ineffective, Mohammad Siraj has proved costly, and this season is probably going to be the worst for Yuzvendra Chahal. The inclusion of Navdeep Saini in the bowling attack hasn't really made much difference.
Mumbai went without Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya in the first match of the UAE leg and lost the match against Chennai. After this they went to play against Kolkata without Hardik Pandya and had to face defeat there too. The mighty middle-order that Mumbai has always relied on seems to be struggling this season. It is not clear whether Hardik Pandya is going to play this match or not but looks like he will play very soon. On paper though, Mumbai's batting lineup is very strong. Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, and Kieron Pollard along with Saurabh Tiwary and Krunal Pandya make up Mumbai's batting line-up big.
But while batting has been an issue, the bowling lineup for Mumbai is excellent. Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah, Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya provide balance to the bowling line-up. Adam Milne is yet to make an impact but there will be hope from him in this match.
Weather Report
The weather on Sunday in Dubai, will be mostly sunny. The maximum temperature will be 37°C and minimum temperature will be 30°C. Humidity is 57% and the wind speed will be 18 km/hr.
Pitch Report
The Dubai pitch has a good pace and the ball hits the bat very well. The pitch helps the fast bowlers more, the spinners will have to struggle on this pitch. It could also be a high scoring match considering the batting lineup of both the teams. The team batting first can score between 170-180.
Bangalore's Probable Playing XI
Virat Kohli (c), Devdutt Padikkal, S Bharat (wk), Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Tim David, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel, Mohammad Siraj, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal
Mumbai's Probable Playing XI
Quinton de Kock (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Saurabh Tiwary, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Adam Milne, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult
Key Players For Bangalore
Devdutt Padikkal, Jasprit Bumrah
Key Players For Mumbai
Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav
