Mumbai Indians v Gujarat Titans: Wankhede road can see both teams get to 200

• Chasing the way to go at the Wankhede

• Both teams scored 200 plus in two of the last three here

• Nehal Wadhera a decent 13/2 chance for Mumbai top bat

Friday May 12, 15:00
TV: Live on Sky Sports

Mumbai Team News

Mumbai are right back in the Playoff race after winning three of their last four.

Last time out they made light work of a chase of 200 against RCB, getting there with 21 balls remaining for the loss of four wickets.

Sky Yadav, who started the season slowly, was in a hurry. His 83 off just 35 was a masterclass in big hitting, brilliant shot selection and execution. And a reminder of why on his day, few can match him.

If he keeps on going like this, Mumbai may yet have every chance of a run to the final.

It was interesting that he came in at three this time, ahead of Cameron Green. Maybe the penny has dropped for the Mumbai management that the earlier he comes in, the better, perhaps.

Nehal Wadhera was also impressive with 52 off 34 and Ishan Kishan made a decent start as well with a quickfire 42; Rohit Sharma, however, caries on looking like a man who's new to the IPL. He isn't.

They were also better off for having Jason Behrendorff back in the side after he was left out at the weekend. He took 3-36.

Chris Jordan came in for Jofra Archer, who has returned to the UK to nurse yet another injury. Jordan was expensive for his one wicket, but he'll have an important role to play going forward.

Possible XIGreen, Kishan, Sharma, Wadhera, Yadav, David, Khan, Jordan, Chawla, Madhwal. Behrendorff.

Gujarat Team news

For the second season running, Gujarat are showing they're the team to beat. They've now won five of their last six and that's no surprise considering their brilliant bowling line-up, one of the strongest we've ever seen in franchise cricket.

Rashid Khan and Mohammed Shami are on 19 wickets each for the season, a tally also matched by CSK's TU Deshpande (at the time of writing). Mohit Sharma (12) and Noor Ahmad (11) are in double figures as well, having played considerably fewer games. No player to have bowled more than six overs is going at more than 8.63 an over. Ahmad and Sharma are going at less than seven an over.

So, you can see why they're in the position they're in.

But last time out it was the opening batsmen doing the heavy lifting. W Saha (81) and Shubman Gill (94 not out) set a platform that LSG never recovered from as they posted 227/2, the Titans eventually winning by 56 runs.

Josh Little has reported for Ireland duty so Alzarri Joseph should keep his place as the fourth overseas player, despite only bowling one over last time round.

Possible XISaha, Gill, Pandya, Miller, Shankar, Tewatia, Khan, Manohar, Sharma, Shami, Ahmad

Pitch report

We're at the Wankhede for this one.

Last time we were here was when Mumbai chased that 200 against RCB.

First innings averages here this season have been considerably above the historical average of 167.

It's now 56/104 matches won by the chaser in Mumbai. The Indians are proving masters of the chase this season, so the Titans may try to negate that by choosing to chase themselves, if given the chance.

Another first innings score of 200+ could well be on.

How to play

Mumbai are slight outsiders at 2.0621/20.

They've certainly improved of late, have momentum and are proving just about the best side in the competition when it comes to acing big chases.

That's why there isn't much in it in the betting despite the Titans being well ahead in the table.

An obvious but sensible play is to side with Mumbai batting second at better than even money chasing around 200. But beware of leaving too much of a liability on the Titans because if there's one side who could stop Mumbai in their tracks in the chase, it's them. If you can back Mumbai batting second at 2.01/1 on the Exchange and get the chance to lay them off at sub-1.51/2, do it.

This looks like it could be a high-scoring match with plenty of ebbs and flows so could be ideal for trading yourself into a nice 'green book' position.

Both to score 200

Both teams to score 200 or more (10/3) would have been a winner in two of the last three matches here at the Wankhede; in that game against RCB on Tuesday, it only wasn't because RCB only posted 199, not 200.

For good measure, three matches ago Mumbai were also involved in an extremely high-scoring tie against Punjab, chasing 215. So that would have been a winner, too.

Gujarat are capable of posting and chasing big scores themselves so the (only) obvious problem here is whether a bowling unit as Gujarat's will allow Mumbai to get to 200.

They're an excellent bowling team as we know but then again, they haven't been facing a batting line-up like Mumbai's all season, nor have they been bowling on wickets as good as this one.

The 8/1 both teams score 210 or more each looks appealing too but that may just be pushing the boat out a little too much.

Wadhera can upset the favourites

Nehal Wadhera got a promotion up the order last time out and came in at 4, ahead of Green.

His 52 not out, on the back of 64 the previous match, went a long way to Mumbai winning so easily.

If he gets to bat there again, he's got a great chance at 13/2 to be their top bat.

Sure, Kishan and Yadav are in fine form but they'll have to face the Titans' opening star bowler Mohammed Shami early on so could be dismissed with not many to their name.

He's worth a shot.