The Indian T20 League has given fans plenty of surprises so far, the biggest being Bangalore winning four games in a row.
SportsAdda ambassador Brett Lee returns with his latest predictions for week three of the T20 extravaganza, and the Australian legend sees the upcoming week as a challenging round for teams to understand their perfect playing combinations.
Brett Lee got four of his five predictions right in the previous episode of SportsAdda presents T20 Crazy, powered by Sportsbet.io, and our ambassador is keen to provide his key predictions while in conversation with Manish Batavia.
Mumbai has the best bowler to take on Punjab
“They (Punjab) have struggled recently with back-to-back losses and two of their Australian bowlers (Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith) were left out of the team as they tried some new combinations. Mumbai looks set so for me it’s Mumbai,” Lee said.
Punjab’s decision to drop their big-money signings Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith for the game against Hyderabad backfired heavily as they lost the tie by nine wickets - their third loss on the trot.
Mumbai, meanwhile, have two wins and two defeats but their bowling unit has been more effective than KL Rahul and Co. Rahul Chahar (eight wickets) and Trent Boult (six wickets) feature in the top 10 list currently and will be eager to exploit the inconsistencies in Punjab’s batting order.
Hands down! Kolkata to hit most sixes against Rajasthan
“Kolkata hands down! I mean the way they (Andre Russell and Pat Cummins) batted the other evening (against Chennai) when they were 31/5 as they chased 221. Great performance from the second half of the team as no one gave them the chance so Kolkata, of course, will hit more sixes than Rajasthan,” Lee said emphatically about one of his former teams.
Despite recent results not going their way, Kolkata will start as favourites against Rajasthan on the virtue of the record of their recent meetings (four wins, one loss). Pat Cummins, who created an unwanted T20 record, made up for his mistake with the ball by smashing an unbeaten 66 off 34 balls which was laced with six maximums.
Bangalore to win against Chennai
“It’s going to be a tough game, but I’m going to go with Bangalore because they have won four games on the trot. They have the momentum and they are going to be too strong for Chennai, in my opinion,” Lee says.
Virat Kohli’s Bangalore has been on a juggernaut run, and their recent one-sided victory over Rajasthan consolidated their status as favourites to win Indian T20 League 2021. Skipper Kohli became the first player to reach 6000 runs in the tournament while his opening partner Devdutt Padikkal registered his maiden century in the competition. Expect both to give a hard time to the likes of Sam Curran and Deepak Chahar.
Warner is due and hungry for runs, to score 50-plus
“I think David Warner is due. He’s found a little bit of form and he appears very fit. He looks hungry and when Warner is hungry for runs, that’s when I lock him in. Hence I’m locking David Warner for a big 50-plus,” Lee said of his compatriot
Hyderabad captain David Warner has registered scores of 54, 36 and 37 in his last three games as he continues to rediscover his free-scoring roots in the Indian T20 League. Binga predicts that the 34-year-old left-handed batsman will own the night on Sunday when Hyderabad take on Delhi with a 50-plus score.
Gayle to score 50 in Motera
"Like David Warner, you can’t keep champions down for too long and Chris Gayle is definitely a champion, the Universe Boss. Yes, he’ll score a fifty. It will be exciting,” Lee said about his one-time nemesis on the field.
With scores of 40, 10, 11 and 15, Chris Gayle is a shadow of his usual run-machine character in the Indian T20 League and SportsAdda ambassador Brett Lee is convinced that the 'Universe Boss' will strike back in fashion. The Jamaican has scored 700 runs against Kolkata and will be eager to record the 32nd 50-plus score of his Indian T20 League career on Monday.
To know more about SportsAdda ambassador Brett Lee’s take on week 3 of Indian T20 League 2021, click here.
