Maharashtra vs Services, VHT, Today Match Prediction 23 December 2024

MHA vs SER Match Prediction & Analysis

Maharashtra will take on the Services in the second round of the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024. It was a low-scoring affair at both venues in Mumbai. Maharashtra bowled out the opposition for 215 runs, while the Services restricted Sikkim to 163 for 8.

The pitch seemed quite tricky and offered much help for the bowlers. There were some highlight performances from Maharashtra but overall, the batters struggled to find their rhythm. It will take a huge effort on the batters’ part to score big on this ground. Ankit Bawne, Siddhesh Veer, and Nikhil Naik looked very promising in Maharashtra’s last match.

Services also have a promising top four, including Ravi Chauhan, Mohit Ahlawat, and Rajat Paliwal,, who were impressive in the successful run chase against Sikkim at the DY Patil Sports Academy.

The bowlers will play a key role in this contest. Both teams have an in-form attack, and they should back themselves to bowl first and gain the upper hand.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Maharashtra Preview

Ruturaj Gaikwad won the toss and opted to bowl first in their season opener against a tough side like Rajasthan. It was a brilliant bowling effort to restrict a strong batting lineup to 215 runs.

The skipper should be concerned about his form, though. He hasn’t looked in great touch lately in the domestic circuit and will need to get some runs in this match. The senior player in the middle-order, Rahul Tripathi, was also out for a duck and was another big miss for Maharashtra.

The good news for the hosts is their key players from last season are getting off to a good start this year. Siddhesh Veer, Ankit Bawne, and Nikhil Naik were among the top contributors for Maharashtra as they won the game by 3 wickets.

Naik came in to bat at number 7 and scored 46 off 56 balls. There is great depth in this batting order. However, they will need the top 4 to succeed in this match to continue winning.

Losing 7 wickets in the chase of 216 isn’t what Gaikwad would expect from his side. Rajneesh Gurbani and Pradeep Dadhe are the key wicket-takers in this bowling attack. We expect another brilliant performance with the ball from Maharashtra, and they are likely to put Services on the back foot.

Maharashtra Predicted Playing XI:

Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Om Bhosale, Ankit Bawne, Siddhesh Veer, Rahul Tripathi, Nikhil Naik (wk), Azim Kazi, Satyajeet Bachhav, Mukesh Choudhary, Rajneesh Gurbani, Pradeep Dadhe

Services Preview

Services are off to a winning start after their bowlers outplayed Sikkim in the opening match. 

Varun Chaudhary, Raj Bahadur, and Poonam Poonia had brilliant economic spells. At the same time, the 21-year-old left-arm orthodox Amit Shukla made a huge impact with figures of 4 for 15 from his 10 Overs.

There is great variety in this bowling attack, and almost everyone looks promising. Services will back themselves to trouble the struggling home team. However, like the hosts, Services must also sort out their batting issues.

The good thing about Services’ batting lineup is that their top 4 looked much better, and they didn’t need their lower order to come to the rescue. The opening batsman, Ravi Chauhan, was the star performer with 59 off 57 balls, while others, including skipper Mohit Ahlawat, seemed to struggle with their strike rates.

Rajat Paliwal is another key batter to watch out for at number 4. The strength of this batting order lies in the top 4. It needs to be seen whether Arjun Sharma and Vineet Dhankar can step up and deliver partnerships in the lower order in case of a collapse.

Services Predicted Playing XI:

Mohit Ahlawat (c & wk), Ravi Chauhan, Rajat Paliwal, Suraj Vashisht, Vikas Hathwala, Vineet Dhankhar, Amit Shukla, Arjun Sharma, Poonam Poonia, Varun Choudhary, Pal Raj Bahadur

Weather Conditions

It will be partly cloudy in Mumbai, with a high of 26 degrees Celsius. The weather should not impact the game except for helping the pacers move the new ball around in the early overs.

MHA vs SER Pitch Report

It has been a balanced wicket in the past, but in recent games, it looked friendlier for the bowlers. The average 1st innings score in the only 4 one-day internationals played at this venue is 142 runs. We reckon anything north of 250 will be a match-winning total in this game.

Toss: To Bowl

The teams bowling first have won all the 5 one-day matches played here so far. Both Services and Maharashtra won their opening games while bowling first and would prefer to continue the same.