Formidable Chennai Super Kings, Daredevils favourites

Their campaign off to a disastrous start, defending champions Mumbai Indians would be gunning for their first win but it won’t be easy as they take on formidable Chennai Super Kings, who are on a roll.

Mumbai could not have asked for a more nightmarish start to the tournament as the side captained by Rohit Sharma suffered big defeats to Kolkata Knight Riders (by 41 runs) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (by 7 wickets) in their first two games.

It is their batting which has hurt the titleholders the most as they could only muster 122 and 115 in their games.

Ambati Rayudu got starts in both the matches, but failed to convert it into big scores, while senior players Mike Hussey, skipper Rohit, Kieron Pollard and all-rounder Correy Anderson have been far from impressive. They will be have to shoulder more responsibility if the team hopes to defend its title.

On the bowling front, veteran Zaheer Khan and Lasith Malinga were upto the mark, but the spin department comprising Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha has let the team down.

Chennai also started their IPl-7 campaign with a six-wicket loss at the hands of Kings XI Punjab. However, they stormed back into familiar territory with back-to-back wins over Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals. Going by form, Chennai will start as overwhelming favourites against a struggling Mumbai side.

HYDERABAD VS DELHI

Sunrisers Hyderabad, bottom of the table, will be looking to bounce back against an inconsistent Delhi Daredevils, who are likely to be boosted by the return by Kevin Pietersen.

In their inaugural season, Hyderabad had reached the playoffs but their campaign this year started on a disappointing note as they first lost to Rajasthan by four wickets and then were blown away by Glenn Maxwell during their 72-run crushing defeat to Kings XI Punjab.

Delhi, on the other hand, blew hot and cold. They began with an eightwicket loss against Bangalore, but bounced back against Kolkata and then an abject batting failure saw them suffer an embarrassing 93-run loss to Chennai.

Their campaign could be revived by the return of Kevin Pietersen, who has missed their matches due to an injury to his little finger, which he suffered during training with Surrey last month.

Hyderabad too have been battling batting woes. In their opening game, the Sunrisers failed to put up an adequate score against Rajasthan, while they capitulated against Kings XI Punjab in their second match.

Sunrisers captain Dhawan had told reporters about their batting and fielding woes after the loss against Punjab. The team will have to address bo