Find out team news, TV and streaming information, odds, weather forecasts and much, much more ahead of the 27th game of the new Indian Premier League season
Mumbai Indians take on Chennai Super Kings in the 27th match of the 2021 IPL.
The game is scheduled for 7.30pm IST (3pm BST) on Saturday, May 1, 2021.
Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium is hosting the game.
In a competition that is increasingly looking like turning into two tiers, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings are the right side of the thin white line as the halfway stage approaches.
That said, the defending champions have been unable to recapture their imperious performances from last term when they captured a fifth title.
Rohit Sharma's side have won three and lost three thanks largely to some uneven batting. Ishan Kishan and Hardik Pandya have been unable to bring forward their form and while Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah have performed admirably with the ball they have had little support from the batters.
Victory over Rajasthan Royals was a timely confidence boost, but CSK will present an altogether more cohesive threat.
MS Dhoni's side are the form team in the competition having won all of their last five on the trot.
The latest success was the dismantling of Sunrisers Hyderabad. Faf du Plessis and Ruturaj Gaikwad have been superb at the top of the order, Ravindra Jadeja has been everywhere with the bat, ball and in the field while the likes of Moeen Ali and Deepak Chahar provide touches of class.
The much-talked-about CSK rebuild appears to be in overdrive. The only question now is anyone capable of stopping them?
Dafabet are backing Mumbai Indians to break CSK's winning streak, offering odds of 4/6 while Dhoni's side sit at 6/5.
The defending champions are also being tipped to hit the most sixes at 19/20 but you can back the Super Kings at 23/30 to out on top.
But CSK are marginally favoured to score the most fours at 19/20, with MI available at 21/20.
Imran Tahir might be deployed sporadically across CSK's campaign but every outing will surely be noteworthy. He claimed 2 for 16 in his only outing so far against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Currently 17th in the men's T20 Player Index and the second-highest ranked outright spinner (behind Rashid Khan), he'll be eager for more opportunities to improve that status in the coming weeks.
Mr T20 Kieron Pollard has struggled to make the impact many would have expected during the competition, having scored 81 runs (strike-rate 126.56) and contributed a single wicket during his six appearances. And while there are other players who have struggled to produce their best for MI, the West Indian is generally a decent barometer for their chances.
Neither team has been affected by major withdrawals or injury, like many of their rivals, so have full squads to pick from.
Mumbai Indians must decide whether to bring Ishan Kishan back into the fold or to persist with Nathan Coulter-Nile.
CSK are expected to be unchanged. Indeed, they have only used 13 players across their six matches so far.
The two teams have played each other 30 times.
Chennai Super Kings wins: 12
Mumbai Indians wins: 18
Temperatures are again likely to be in the low 30s but clear skies mean there is no chance of any significant interruptions.
No, this match will be played behind closed doors owing to the Covid-19 situation in India.
This will be the toughest test CSK have faced since their opening-round loss to Delhi Capitals but expect them to come through it, given Mumbai Indians' uneven start.
IPL TEAM GUIDES
Sky Sports have the rights in the United Kingdom.
You can aso stream the tournament using the Disney+ Hotstar digital platform, though the matches are only available for VIP or Premium subscribers.
Star Sports have the television rights in India.
Streaming service YuppTV have acquired digital streaming rights in a host of markets, including Australia, continental Europe, Malaysia, Southeast Asia with the exception of Singapore, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives, Central Asia, and Central and South America.
In the USA, the games will be broadcast on Willow TV and the Willow TV website. Fox Sports have the broadcasting rights in Australia, while Supersport will televise the games in South Africa. In the Caribbean, Flow TV have the rights.
The following broadcasters owning the rights for their respective regions:
Bangladesh: Channel 9
Afghanistan: Lemar TV
Malaysia: Measat
MENA/UAE: BeIN Sport
Hong Kong: Now TV
Singapore: SingTel
New Zealand: Sky Sport
Papua New Guinea: EMTV
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Aditya Tare, Anmolpreet Singh, Anukul Roy, Dhawal Kulkarni, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Quinton de Kock, Rahul Chahar, Suryakumar Yadav, Chris Lynn, Mohsin Khan, Saurabh Tiwary, Trent Boult, Adam Milne, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, James Neeshan, Yudhvir Charak, Marco Jansen, Arjun Tendulkar
Chennai Super Kings: Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Narayan Jagadeesabn, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KM Asif, Karn Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, Faf du Plessis, Shardul Thakur, Mitchell Santner, Dwayne Bravo, Lungi Ngidi, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Imran Tahir, Robin Uthappa, Moeen Ali, K Gowtham, Cheteshwar Pujara, M.Harisankar Reddy, K.Bhagath Varma, C Hari Nishaanth, R Sai Kishore
MI: Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
CSK: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf Du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (c, wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi
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