The first qualifier for the IPL final takes place in Chennai on Tuesday when Mumbai Indians clash with the Super Kings and in two meetings during the regular season it was Mumbai who came out on top.
A dramatic final weekend in the round robin stage saw 3 teams finish tied on 18 points but Mumbai’s 9 wicket thrashing of the Knight Riders saw them leap from third to first ahead of the Super Kings and Delhi Capitals on net run rate.
The significance of a top 2 finish comes in the shape of 2 chances to reach the final. Whoever wins here will go straight to Sunday’s final in Hyderabad whilst the loser gets another chance in the second qualifier (against Delhi or Sunrisers) in Visakhapatnam on Friday.
Heading into the play offs this is how the outright betting looked.
To Lift the Trophy
Mumbai Indians 14/10
Chennai Super Kings 17/10
Sunrisers Hyderabad 13/2
Delhi Capitals 13/2
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Mumbai Indians
Mumbai finished with a record of 9 wins and 5 defeats and they won 3 of their last 4 to claim top spot.
Quinton de Kock is their top run scorer with 492 runs, Rohit Sharma has 386 and Hardik Pandya is next best with 373. With the ball Jasprit Bumrah took 17 wickets in 14 matches, Malinga claimed 15 in 10 outings and Hardik Pandya has 14 wickets against his name
Chennai Super Kings
Despite losing their final match away to Kings XI on Sunday the Super Kings held on top a top 2 slot. The platform for success was built in the first half of the tournament with 7 wins in their first 8 matches and they were strong in Chennai with a record of 6 wins and 1 defeat.
MS Dhoni is top CSK batsmen with 368 in just 9 innings. Suresh Raina has 359 from 14 knocks and Faf du Plessis has 314 from 9 innings.
Imran Tahir is leading wicket taker for CSK with 21 in 14 matches, Deepak Chahar has 16 and Ravindra Jadeja and Harbhajan Singh both have 13.
Head to Head
Matches 28, Mumbai wins 16, CSK wins 12
When the teams met in Mumbai in Match 15 Mumbai won by 37 runs. Suryakumar Yadav (59) and Krunal Pandya (42) were top scorers in Mumbai’s bat first total of 170/5. CSK lost their first 3 wickets with just 33 runs on the board and although Kedar Jadhav hit 58, they came up well short, closing on 133/8 (Hardik Pandya 3/20)
The return in Chennai came in Match 44 and this time Mumbai won by 46 runs. Rohit Sharma top scored with 67 as Mumbai posted 155/4. In the chase only 3 CSK batsmen made it to double figures as they were bowled out for 109 with Malinga taking 4 wickets.
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Match Result
Mumbai Indians 9/10
Chennai Super Kings 9/10
Note: Prices correct at the time of posting but are subject to change
Betting Angle
This is effectively a home game for Chennai with the venues for the play offs determined some time ago but Mumbai are the only side to have beaten the Super Kings at this venue this season and they arrive in the better form.
We look to the Man of the Match market for a bet and choose one bowler from each side. The outstanding candidates would seem to be Tahir of CSK and Bumrah of Mumbai Indians.
Bet: Man of the Match Tahir at 12/1
Man of the Match Bumrah at 12/1
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