Resurgent Mumbai eye another final

Gujarat Titans, handed a second life thanks to the perks of finishing among top-2 in the league phase, will be banking on home comfort to quell the momentum heavyweights Mumbai Indians are enjoying in a mouth-watering IPL-16 Qualifier 2 on Friday.

Five-time winners Mumbai Indians started the tournament in a typically slow fashion. They were bunched in the mid table for most of the season and even until last Sunday weren’t sure of making the play-offs, with their spot hinging on the outcome of the Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Gujarat Titans' game. As luck would have it, MI won their final game on Sunday while RCB bungled for the former to punch the final play-off ticket.

When on a roll, especially in the concluding phase of the the IPL, there are few sides as good as the Mumbai Indians. They unearth heroes from nowhere, like they did against Lucknow Super Giants in the Eliminator on Wednesday by churning out their latest gem in Akash Madhwa, the pacer continuing his impressive runs with an incredible spell of 5/5.

Not just Madhwa, an engineer who took to leather ball cricket just a few years ago, but even other pieces are nicely falling together for Mumbai as they seek a date against arch-rivals Chennai Super Kings in Sunday’s final — also at the massive Narendra Modi Stadium here.

Suryakumar Yadav, who looked woeful at the start of the tournament, has nicely turned on the gears as the tournament progressed and now looks his belligerent self, capable of tearing apart any attack in any condition. Australian all-rounder Cameroon Green has been a revelation with his monstrous hitting and electrifying fielding while Ishan Kishan has been solid at the top. Tilak Varma, Nehal Wadera and Tim David have constantly provided the impetus lower down the order with their big hitting.

Mumbai have concerns on the bowling front with India discard Piyush Chawla being the highest wicket-taker with 21 scalps. It remains to be seen if Madhwal, who has been on fire, can continue that surge. The rest of the Mumbai attack has looked okay but if there’s a side that knows how to win the big matches, it’s them.

Although Gujarat were completely outsmarted by Chennai Super Kings in Qualifier 1, the defending champions will be determined to put Mumbai to the sword. It’s pretty much a home game for them and they have the personnel to exploit the conditions.

In Mohammed Shami (26) and Rashid Khan (25), they have the top two wicket-takers this season. A returning Mohit Sharma (19) has rediscovered his mojo. Then there’s the teen prodigy Noor Ahmad, the left-armer, another hot product from the sizzling Afghan spin factory.

It’s on the batting front where GT have struggled. While opener Shubman Gill (722 runs) is close to taking the Orange Cap, others are yet to fire big. Guys like Vijay Shankar (301), Wriddhiman Saha (299), Hardik Pandya (297) and David Miller (259) have made notable contributions but nothing sensational.