On a roll after a six-game winning streak, high-flying Mumbai Indians will take on a resurgent Rising Pune Supergiant, their only conquerors so far in this edition of the Indian Premier League, on Tuesday.

Pune’s last-ball, six-wicket victory on Saturday at home against defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad was followed just over a 100km away at the Wankhede Stadium here by Mumbai’s stout defence of a small total on a bouncy pitch against the misfiring Delhi Daredevils.

Table toppers Mumbai, thus, are in a perfect state of mind to seek revenge for their first leg loss to their Maharashtra rivals in their opening game in Pune, their only defeat in this season so far.

That the Pune victory over Hyderabad was piloted by none other than the iconic Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who smashed an unbeaten 61 not out in 34 balls to steer the side home in the last ball, will not be lost on the Mumbai think-tank.

The timely return to form by the talismanic former Indian captain, along with Pune captain Steve Smith’s strong show so far in the tournament, makes this duo formidable rivals for the Mumbai bowlers who showed great skills in defending a small total of 142 against Delhi.

Time: 8 pm

Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

TV: Sony Max, Sony Six, Sony ESPN and their HD channels

Results in 2016:

Played: 2

MI won: 1

RPS won: 1

Result in 2017:

Played: 1

RPS won: 1

Mumbai Indians

  • Mumbai have now won six consecutive games in this edition of the IPL. A win would see them achieve their best run. The last time they won six games on the trot was in 2008.
  • Harbhajan Singh is one wicket away from scalping 200 wickets in T20 cricket.
  • Mumbai Indians have played twice on April 24, which incidentally is the birthday of batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar. They emerged victorious on both occasions.

“It’s important that we do not get too high or two low, just stay consistent because there are many ups and downs in T20 cricket.”

- Mumbai Indians pacer MItchell McCleneghan wants his side to remain grounded.

Squad: Rohit Sharma (c), Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga, Harbhajan Singh, Ambati Rayudu, Jasprit Bumrah, Shreyas Gopal, Lendl Simmons, Vinay Kumar, Parthiv Patel, Mitchell McClenaghan, Nitish Rana, Siddhesh Lad, Jagadeesha Suchith, Hardik Pandya, Jos Buttler, Tim Southee, Jitesh Sharma, Krunal Pandya, Deepak Punia, Saurabh Tiwary, Nicholas Pooran, Mitchell Johnson, Karn Sharma, Asela Gunaratne, Krishnappa Gowtham, Kulwant Khejroliya.

Rising Pune Supergiant

  • Pune’s bowlers have struggled in the death overs so far this season, conceding at RPS at 12.07, the worst among all eight teams in the tournament.
  • In the first leg, Pune’s Ashok Dinda conceded 30 runs in an over. It was the most expensive final over of an IPL innings.

“After last year, we all felt that we needed more contributions from everybody. Dhoni, in particular, was the one to put his hand up. So he has been wanting to win a game,”

- Coach Stephen Fleming on MS Dhoni’s impact on Pune.

Squad: Steve Smith (captain), MS Dhoni, Ajinkya Rahane, Faf du Plessis, Ben Stokes, Imran Tahir, Mayank Agarwal, Manoj Tiwary, Milind Tandon, Usman Khawaja, Ankush Bains, Rahul Tripathi, Saurabh Kumar, Rahul Chahar, Lockie Ferguson, Daniel Christian, Baba Aparajith, Rajat Bhatia, Jaydev Unadkat, Ashok Dinda, Ishwar Pandey, Adam Zampa, Deepak Chahar, Jaskaran Singh.