Mumbai Indians faced off against Punjab Kings in the 42nd match of the Indian Premier League. The team from Punjab managed to score 135/6 in their 20 overs. It was a great bowling effort, though the reigning champions needed to do it with the bat next. Their performances had been really poor and the team wasn’t firing at all.
Mumbai Indians
Mumbai Indians are in the red zone. Any more losses will only push them out of the playoff race. The defending champions have now lost three games in a trot and on Tuesday they face Punjab Kings, another side fighting for survival. Mumbai folded for 111 against RCB. They lost all their wickets within 54 runs.
Their problems start with the big guns not stepping up. Last year when the five-time champions won the league, names like Quinton De Kock, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan were all amongst the run columns. However, in UAE, all of them seem to be struggling. De Kock has got a couple of starts but he has failed to convert them into big scores. Bowling wise, Jasprit Bumrah seems to be back after conceding 76 runs in the first two games. Milne and Boult front up are a dangerous duo. Their spin in Krunal Pandya and Rahul Chahar’s hands also looks safe.
Mumbai Indians Squad:
Rohit Sharma, Aditya Tare, Anmolpreet Singh, Anukul Roy, Dhawal Kulkarni, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Quinton de Kock, Rahul Chahar, Suryakumar Yadav, Chris Lynn, Mohsin Khan, Saurabh Tiwary, Trent Boult, Adam Milne, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, James Neeshan, Yudhvir Charak, Marco Jansen, Arjun Tendulkar
Punjab Kings:
KL Rahul has a star-studded lineup supporting him this IPL. Starting with their captain’s class and Mayank Agarwal’s strokeplay, the Punjab Kings have Mohammed Shami to work magic for them. However, all their magic has been inconsistent. The team choked against Rajasthan Royals and could only manage 125 runs against Hyderabad. Credits to their bowling efforts against Sunrisers they defended the low total and got a win.
Chris Gayle, Ravi Bishnoi and Nathan Ellis are likely to retain their spots in the playing 11 as Punjab face Mumbai.
PBKS Squad:
KL Rahul (c), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh, Prabhsimran Singh, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, Dawid Malan, Shahrukh Khan, Deepak Hooda, Moises Henriques, Jalaj Saxena, Saurabh Kumar, Fabian Allen, Murugan Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Harpreet Brar, Utkarsh Singh, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Porel, Darshan Nalkande, Chris Jordan, Riley Meredith, Jhye Richardson, Nathan Ellis
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians have faced each other 27 times in the IPL. Punjab have won 13 matches while Mumbai has won on 14 occasions.
PREDICTION:
Mumbai Indians win
The holders are the favourites heading into this match. It is high time the stars in blue justify their reputation in the shortest format and who is better than Mumbai when it comes to the business end of the tournament.
Venue:
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
It will be a great match that could go down to the wire. The Mumbai Indians really need to win this to ensure that they can make it to the playoffs this season.
