It’s crunch time in the Indian Premier League with the play-offs officially underway and on Friday, Gujarat Titans take on the Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator in Punjab.
The Titans will have been disappointed to have dropped out of the IPL’s top two, having lost their last two matches of the regular season and consequently missing out on a qualifier berth.
As for the Indians, they had the opposite scenario of starting the season with four defeats in their first five matches before winning seven of their subsequent nine games to make the play-offs.
The winners of this contest in Mullanpur progress to qualifier two in which they will take on either Punjab Kings or Royal Challengers Bengaluru for a place in the final, which is in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
Gujarat Titans vs Mumbai Indians Betting Tips
- Mumbai Indians -4.5 wickets / -10.5 runs on match handicap @ 10/11 with Paddy Power
- Sai Sudharsan to score over 31.5 runs @ 5/6 with bet365
Odds courtesy of Paddy Power & bet365 and are correct at time of publishing
Indians can build on strong play-off record
The Indians are a solid proposition to win this match for a handful of reasons but there is little value in backing them in the match betting.
Instead, back them at -4.5 wickets/-10.5 runs on the match handicap with a comfortable win expected for the five-time champions.
Form has to be factored in and it is not on the side of Titans, who not only lost their last two matches but did so convincingly, going down by 33 runs against Lucknow Super Giants and 83 runs against Chennai Super Kings.
Mumbai, meanwhile, have won seven of their last nine matches since mid-April and many of those victories have been by convincing margins.
They beat Chennai by nine wickets, Hyderabad by seven wickets, Lucknow by 54 runs, Rajasthan by 100 runs and Delhi by 59 runs.
When they faced Gujarat earlier this month, they lost by three wickets but that match was settled by DLS method and it is worth noting the Titans will this time be missing number three batters Jos Buttler, who scored 30 runs in that match.
Confidence is low in the Gujarat camp and losing wicketkeeper-batter Buttler, who is on international duty, will not help matters. Expect Mumbai’s experience to play a key role and help them win comfortably.
- Gujarat Titans vs Mumbai Indians tip 1: Mumbai Indians -4.5 wickets / -10.5 runs on match handicap @ 10/11 with Paddy Power
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Sudharsan a reliable source of runs for Gujarat
In the absence of Buttler, even more will be expected from explosive opening pair Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill for Gujarat Titans.
Sudharsan is the leading contender for the Orange Cap, awarded to the IPL’s top scorer, with 679 runs from 14 innings, while Gill is just behind him on 649 runs.
It makes it tricky to split the pair when it comes to the top Gujarat runscorer market and the better play is to back Sudharsan to surpass his runs line of 31.5.
Sudharsan finished the season in slightly better form than Gill, making 41 in the 83-run hammering by Chennai, and he averages 52.23 in the IPL this year.
- Gujarat Titans vs Mumbai Indians tip 2: Sai Sudharsan to score over 31.5 runs @ 5/6 with bet365
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