IPL 2018, Match 31, Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Mumbai Indians: Match Prediction

As we approach the 31^st match of Vivo IPL, both teams in question, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians will be eager to register a victory, as both need it badly.

Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Mumbai Indians are languishing at the bottom of the points table with just a couple of wins under their belt from seven outings. It will indeed be a must-win clash for both teams. A loss for either of the sides might prove to be disastrous in the end. Both have some exceptional players in their ranks and will be hoping that they step up to the occasion.

Royal Challengers Bangalore haven’t been able to get their combination right ever since the previous season. Something isn’t clicking for them which has reflected in the results. Virat Kohli time and again has been asked various questions about the losses, and sometimes he has simply been unable to answer on what exactly has gone for the team since the last year.

They boast of a sensational batting order. However, Bangalore haven’t been consistent enough despite a terrific run of form by skipper Kohli.

Mr 360, AB de Villiers has also looked in ominous touch. He was at his imperious best against the Chennai Super Kings. However, his innings of 68 off just 30 deliveries weren’t enough in the end, as a whirlwind knock from the CSK Skipper, MS Dhoni sealed the deal for Chennai. Bangalore has been severely jolted by their below-par bowling performances, especially in the death overs.

They haven’t been able to apply enough pressure on the opposition batsmen neither in the middle over nor in the death. They have begun well on occasions but hasn’t been quite able to continue their good work all through the innings.

Some of the decisions taken by Kohli has also been baffling at times. The ploy to go with Corey Anderson in the three most important overs in the death against Chennai was unexplainable.

He will surely improve as a leader as he matures. However, in these cases, he needs to be careful otherwise it might well turn out to be a similar sort of a season for RCB which they had last year.

Also Read: IPL 2018: Back is Still Hurting – MS Dhoni

Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, has been quite unlucky in this tournament so far. At least three of the results could have gone Mumbai’s way if not more. They began their campaign with a couple of one wicket losses to Chennai Super Kings and the Sunrisers Hyderabad.

They lost yet another last-ball thriller against the Daredevils by seven wickets. The three-time champions came back to winning ways with a victory against Bangalore in the home clash.

The match against the Rajasthan Royals proved to be another humdinger and Mumbai yet again fell on the wrong side. A brilliant 33 off just 11 deliveries by Krishnappa Gowtham handed Rajasthan a sensational come from behind victory. They failed to chase 119 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad and was skittled out for just 87 runs.

It was a sensational piece of bowling by Hyderabad. However, Mumbai would have backed themselves to chase the total down in any sort of pitches.

Mumbai finally came back to winning ways after their professional performance against the Chennai Super Kings, After restricting Chennai to 169 in their allotted 20 overs, Mumbai batted quite sensibly and eventually won the match by eight wickets with a couple of deliveries to spare. Captain Rohit Sharma played a match-winning knock and remained unbeaten on 56 off just 33 deliveries. He smashed four boundaries in the penultimate over of Shardul Thakur which tilted the scales totally in favour of Mumbai.

Also Read: IPL 2018, Match 30, CSK v DD: Watson, Dhoni Heroics Give Chennai 13 Runs Victory Over Delhi

Team Combinations

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Now, what does Bangalore do to force a turnaround in their fortunes? They made three changes in the previous match which wasn’t enough to give them a victory.

Murugan Ashwin did bag a couple of wickets but missed the most important catch of Chris Lyn which proved to be the difference in the end. Lynn remained unbeaten and sealed the deal for Kolkata. Colin de Granhomme hasn’t done much for Bangalore in this edition so far.

Chris Woakes might make a comeback. If Manan Vohra keeps his place, he needs to go up the order otherwise he will be a waste in the middle order.

Predicted XI: Brendon McCullum, Quinton de Kock, Manan Vohra, Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Chris Woakes, Murugan Ashwin, Umesh yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal

Mumbai Indians

Rohit Sharma won’t look to tinker with their winning combination. JP Duminy was a part of the playing XI the other day. However, he wasn’t required in the end. Ben Cutting didn’t offer much either. Hence both players are expected to retain their places. If the pitch is slightly on the slower side, then Mustafizur Rahman might return to the XI.

Predicted XI: Suryakumar Yadav, Evin Lewis, Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, JP Duminy, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Ben Cutting, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah, Mayank Markande

Match Predictions

Mumbai have a sensational record against Bangalore. They have won their last five matches at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium and hopes to continue their stupendous run. Bangalore, on the other hand, will look to get back to winning ways. However, Mumbai looks the firm favourites and I am also backing them to continue the momentum which they got against the Chennai Super Kings. So it’s a Mumbai for today.