The Mumbai Indians are the current form team of the IPL, and they head into Sunday’s game on the back of a run of four wins.
Mumbai Indian v Lucknow Super Giants | IPL 2025 Game 45 | Sunday 27 April | Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai | 12pm
Lucknow started strong, but they have faded a little in eth last few outings with two losses in their last three games.
The two sides come into the game level on 10 points each. Whoever wins will go joint top of the table with the Titans, Capitals and RCB, who are all on 12 points.
LSG have won four of the last five games between these two sides, including their meeting earlier this season, which saw LSG win by 12 runs.
LSG batsman Nicholas Pooran started the season in excellent form, but his results have tapered off in recent games with scores of 9, 11 and 8 in his last three knocks.
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Mumbai Indians have a great record at Wankhede Stadium, having won 53 out of the 88 games they have played there (60.22%).
Chasing teams have traditionally done slightly better at Wankhede Stadium, with the side batting second winning 66 times and the side batting first winning 54 of the 120 games played at the venue. There has also been one tie. However, momentum has swung a little in recent times, with the team batting first having won five of the last ten games at the venue.
The Wankhede Stadium is the IPL venue that has seen the most sixes hit. With 1680 sixes hit here since the start of the IPL, it has seen 200 more maximums struck than the second-highest venue.
Weather:
The early game on Sunday is going to be punishing, with the weather bureau bringing an excessive heat warning to their forecast. The maximum temperature will be 33 degrees, and the humidity will be high, at around 66 per cent. There is no prospect of rain.
Form (most recent game first):
Mumbai Indians: W, W, W, W, L.
Lucknow Super Giants: L, W, L, W, W.
Key player:
Mumbai Indians, Rohit Sharma: Sharma is back and looking good at the top of the MI order. After a slow start to the tournament, he started to get starts before bursting into form in the last two games with scores of 76* and 70 in the last two knocks. He is looking good, and he is scoring quickly, and his return to form, coupled with the return from injury of Jasprit Bumrah, are key components in MI’s excellent string of good recent results.
Lucknow Super Giants, Aiden Markram: The South African opener started the season very much in the shadow of Pooran and Mitch Marsh. But he has slowly improved with each outing and boasts scores of 52, 66, 6, 58 and 47 from his last five innings. It is good going from Markram, who is the eighth-highest run scorer in the tournament. He is still behind Marsh and Pooran on that list, but the form is with him.
Verdict: Mumbai Indians
With talisman Pooran struggling, and with Mumbai Indians’ bowlers Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah in fine form, MI are looking very good. They have hit form at the right time, and they are playing at home – expect their excellent run of good form to continue.
Delhi Capitals v Royal Challengers Bengaluru | IPL 2025 Game 46 | Sunday 27 April | Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi | 4pm
This is a genuine top-of-the-table clash between two sides in good form. They head into Sunday’s encounter level on 12 points (along with the Gujarat Titans), knowing that whoever wins will go top.
The Capitals have won two of the last three games between these sides, including a six-wicket win earlier this season.
Despite their solid haul of points, both these sides have been inconsistent with wins invariably followed by losses. They both come into Sunday’s game on the back of wins last time out.
RCB’s Josh Hazlewood is currently the tournament’s leading wicket-taker (alongside Prasidh Krishna of GT). His knack for bowling end-of-innings yorkers has been superb. He currently boasts 16 wickets at an average of 17.18.
Meanwhile, the Capitals’ Kuldeep Yadav boasts the second-best economy rate of the tournament – he is currently going at just 6.5 to the over and averaging 17.33 per wicket.
Venue: Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi
Formerly known as Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, this is the primary home of the Delhi Capitals, and Sunday will be their third game at the venue this season after their first two home games were played at the ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam.
Last season, the venue was a fortress for the Capitals as they only lost one game in five there. They lost their first outing in Delhi this year, however, as the Mumbai Indians snuck home. But they won their second game here against the Rajasthan Royals, triumphing via a super over.
The stadium slightly favours the chasing teams, but the advantage is marginal, with 44 wins for the team batting first and 45 for the team batting second. There has also been a tie and a no result at the venue.
The highest individual score made at the ground came back in 2012 when the home side were the Delhi Daredevils – West Indian legend Chris Gayle smashed a fantastic, undefeated 128 for RCB.
The highest team score made here was 266/7 by Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2024.
Weather:
The one good thing about the weather in Delhi is that it is not overly humid – but that is not to say that it won’t be hot. The truth is that it will be searing with a maximum on Sunday of 40 degrees. The wind will be mild at 11kpm. It will not be comfortable weather for cricket.
Form (most recent game first):
Delhi Capitals: W, L, W, L, W.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: W, L, W, L, W.
Key player:
Delhi Capitals, Abishek Porel: The young opener scores fast, and he is in good form. Last time out, he scored a brisk 51 as the Capitals overcame LSG. But he has made starts in each of his last four innings and, while teams tend to focus on some of the marquee names in the team (think KL Rahul, Axar Patel and Tristan Stubbs), Porel keeps on going about his business of creating launch-pads for the batsmen who follow him.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Virat Kohli: The former Indian captain has never won the IPL, and it goes without saying that he wants it badly. It’s a good thing, then, that he has hit form as he has because there are very few batsmen anywhere in the world who can dominate an attack as he can. He is currently the tournament’s highest scorer and boasts knocks of 70, 73*, 1 and 62* from his last four turns at bat. His role at RCB is to bat through the innings and let others attack around him – it suits him perfectly and suggests strongly that he will score big again on Sunday.
Verdict: Royal Challengers Bengaluru
The Capitals scraped to a win with a Super Over last time out at their home venue. Their home form hasn’t been great, but they are doing enough to get by. RCB, however, seem to be getting better with each outing, with Josh Hazlewood and Virat Kohli striking form at the exact right stage of the tournament. If they keep on performing as they are, RCB should win in Delhi on Sunday.
Rajasthan Royals v Gujarat Titans | IPL 2025 Game 47 | Monday 28 April | Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur | 4pm
The Rajasthan Royals are in desperate form at the moment, without a win from their last five games.
The Royals’ poor form is in stark contrast to that of the Titans, who have suffered just one defeat from their last five. The Titans are currently top of the IPL table.
The Titans have won four of the last five games between these two teams, including a 58-run victory earlier this season.
The Titans’ top three have been in imperious form this season, and they are all amongst the tournament’s top ten run scorers. Sai Sudharsan is top of the run-scoring list with 417 runs at an average of 52.12. Jos Buttler is fifth an averaging 71.20, while Shubman Gill is tenth and averaging 43.97.
It has been a disappointing season for the Royals, but Yashasvi Jaiswal has been a beacon of hope in an otherwise bleak summer. He has been in excellent form at the top of the RR order with knocks of 49, 74, 51 and 75 in his last four innings.
Venue: Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
The Sawai Mansingh Stadium is the Royals’ primary home ground, and Monday’s game against the Gujarat Titans will be their third at the venue in IPL 2025. Last season, they won four of their five games at the ground, but they haven’t won here yet this season.
Traditionally, the Sawai Mansingh Stadium has favoured teams that chase. But despite that, the RR have an excellent record defending totals here, managing to win 50 per cent of the 26 games where they have batted first.
The highest score in IPL at the venue is 217 for six made by Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2023.
Weather:
The heat wave that is affecting India will not be letting up in the Rajasthan desert on Monday, with the temperature reaching a high of 41 degrees. Humidity and cloud cover are low, as is the breeze. It will just be hot. Very hot!
Form (most recent game first):
Rajasthan Royals: L, L, L, L, W.
Gujarat Titans: W, W, L, W, W.
Key player:
Rajasthan Royals, Jofra Archer: Archer is bowling quickly and accurately and is looking menacing. Fast bowlers can be expensive in T20 cricket as the pace of the ball means edges can go far (as was the case last time out when he peppered the RCB openers, Virat Kohli and Phil Salt and left them troubled, but intact). Archer has blown hot and cold this season, but if RR are to see their fortunes change for the better against the Titans, they are going to need to get early wickets, and Archer is the man for the job.
Gujarat Titans, Sai Sudharsan: Currently, the tournament’s leading run scorer, Sudharsan, has been in excellent form this season. He has passed 50 in three of his last four knocks (when he didn’t, he made 36), and he is scoring fast. Along with Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler, the trio have been key to the Titans’ excellent run of results this season.
Almost invariably, at least one of them comes off each innings. Expect more runs from Sudharsan on Monday – he has now scored more than the much-feared Nicholas Pooran.
Verdict: Gujarat Titans
Anything can happen in T20 cricket, but it would be a big surprise to see the Royals win this one. The Titans are brimming with confidence and in excellent form. Even though they are playing at home, the Royals are looking lost. Winning is a habit, and the Royals have forgotten how to do it. They have come close a few times in recent games, but they have always rolled over in the end – it is not likely to change on Monday.
