Big Picture
People of Indore – with the Marathi influence on the city – like to believe they live in “Little Mumbai”. It is way closer to Mumbai than it is to any city in Punjab. Yet Mumbai Indians come to Indore as the away team looking to survive in the tournament, playing form team, Kings XI Punjab.
With five wins in seven matches, Kings XI are not too far from the playoffs, but they are coming off a week-long break. Mumbai, meanwhile, will want to get off the treadmill of defeat; they need to win every match from now.
It is well reported that the last few balls of an innings, or game, have cost Mumbai. Three times they have lost in the last over of the match, in another they bowled a bad last ball for 13 runs, which proved to be a bridge too far when they chased. There is no room for any allowances now.
This will be a contest between a side looking to make use of every small resource available to it and a side so rich with resources it can afford to have a surplus player in its XI in the hope that when he comes good, he wins them a match off his own bat. Kings XI have been a revelation, Mumbai are looking to rediscover themselves.
In the news
With a one-week break behind them, Kings XI should have a fit and hungry Chris Gayle at the top of the order.
Kieron Pollard is precariously placed in Mumbai’s XI. A match after he was finally dropped, the West Indian made an unsuccessful return to the side, scoring a run-a-ball 13. There is uncertainty around Evin Lewis as well considering his wrist injury.
Previous meeting
Remarkably these sides are meeting for the first time this season.
Likely XIs
Kings XI Punjab: 1 Chris Gayle, 2 KL Rahul (wk), 3 Mayank Agarwal, 4 Karun Nair, 5 Aaron Finch, 6 Manoj Tiwary, 7 R Ashwin (capt.), 8 Andrew Tye, 9 Barinder Sran, 10 Ankit Rajpoot, 11 Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Mumbai Indians: 1 Suryakumar Yadav, 2 Evin Lewis, 3 Ishan Kishan (wk), 4 Rohit Sharma (capt.), 5 JP Duminy, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Ben Cutting, 9 Mitchell McClenaghan, 10 Mayank Markande, 11 Jasprit Bumrah
Strategy punt
If Mumbai open with Rohit Sharma, they could force Mujeeb ur Rahman – legspin v Rohit is always a bowler-friendly match-up – to bowl sooner than Kings XI would want him to bowl.
Stats that matter
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Over 10 seasons, these two sides have an even record of 10 wins and losses against each other. The head-to-head between them over the last three seasons has been 1-1.
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Pollard has faced only 70 balls in six innings this season; Aaron Finch has faced only 16 over five innings.
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In 25 balls faced from Mitchell McClenaghan, KL Rahul has scored a healthy 42 runs, but has also been dismissed twice.
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Chris Gayle has struck at 169.4 per 100 balls of spin this IPL without being dismissed; he still has a solid strike-rate of 154.8 against pace but has got out twice to the quicks.
Fantasy pick
Krunal Pandya is a floater. He could bat high up in the order, and he will be bowling his left-arm spin against a line-up full of right-hand batsmen, except Chris Gayle.
Quotes
“We have six games left, and we have to win them all. That is what we have to do. I still believe when you look at our squad, we have key players who can win us six games in a row. We have done it in the past, and I believe we can do it again.”
Shane Bond, Mumbai Indians’ bowling coach, is still hopeful they can turn it around
Source: ESPN Crickinfo