IPL 2019, Match 7: RCB vs MI Match Prediction
When Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians clash at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, all eyes will be on Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. There is an ongoing debate about who is the better limited-overs captain between the two. Nonetheless, both teams desperately need their captains to come good. RCB and MI did not have the best of starts to their IPL 2019 campaign after losing their first match. Both teams will look to register the first win of the season on Thursday.
RCB
Strength
Defending a small total against CSK, RCB's bowlers showed a lot of heart. Yuzvendra Chahal gave away just 6 runs in his 4 overs, picking up one wicket. Also, Umesh Yadav, Mohd. Siraj and Navdeep Saini bowled with a lot of fire. The bowling unit will have to come good once again against a strong Mumbai Indians batting line-up.
Weakness
Over-dependence on Kohli and AB de Villiers hurt RCB in their opening match. RCB's middle and lower middle-order does not look threatening enough. Also, the team's balance didn't look right in the first match.
Mumbai Indians
Strength
Even though Mumbai Indians failed to reach the big target, a lot of their batsmen got starts and they looked in good touch. They would like to believe that big innings from a few of them are just around the corner.
Weakness
Mumbai Indians' bowling looked toothless against Delhi Capitals and in case Jasprit Bumrah does not play the game against RCB, MI's bowling attack will struggle against the likes of Kohli and De Villiers.
Who will win the match?
Even though both teams lost their first matches, MI looked like a more settled side. They have a lot of batting firepower and it might be the difference between the two sides. Having said that, Bumrah's availability will have a huge bearing on the outcome of the match as he is probably the only bowler in Mumbai Indians' squad who can stop an on song Kohli and De Villiers. Otherwise, Mumbai Indians certainly have an upper hand in the contest.
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