Mumbai Indians have a superior fast bowling attack bolstered by the inclusion of West Indian pacer, Alzarri Joseph, who blew away Sunrisers with his record-breaking haul of 6/12 in Hyderabad in their previous game. (AP Photo)Mumbai Indians fell to a comprehensive 8-wicket loss the last time they played Kings XI Punjab but that was played at the latter’s home. KXIP have never lost a game at home this season, but they have won just one away from home. Moreover, they will be facing an MI bowling attack that has been bolstered by the inclusion of Alzarri Joseph, who announced his entry into the IPL by ending their match against Sunrisers Hyderabad with the best ever bowling figures in the 11-year history of the tournament.
Kings XI also beat Sunrisers in their previous game and will be looking to take advantage of what seems to be Mumbai’s weakness – their batting order. Despite possessing names like Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock, the top order has not flourished this season and it is rear guard actions by Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard that has often bailed them out.
However, KXIP would also have to deal with a bowling attack that boasts the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Jason Behrendorff and Joseph apart from Hardik and his brother Krunal.
MI don’t even have anyone in the top-20 run scorers’ list this season, an indication of the depth in their batting, and have a superior fast bowling attack bolstered by the inclusion of West Indian pacer, Alzarri Joseph, who blew away Sunrisers with his record-breaking haul of 6/12 in Hyderabad in their previous game.
The hosts have a formidable pace attack with Jasprit Bumrah and left-arm Jason Behrendorff also there, along with Joseph and Hardik, to utilise the bounce and carry on the Wankhede track. Kings XI, third on the table with eight points, have been top heavy in batting with K L Rahul and Mayank Agarwal leading the way with 200-plus aggregates and the indomitable Gayle too not far behind.
In bowling, skipper Ravichandran Ashwin (7 wickets) has done well in five out of six games that the team has played and has got good support from the likes of Sam Curran, Mohammed Shami and Murugan Ashwin.
Teams:
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma(c), Quinton de Kock(wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Yuvraj Singh, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jason Behrendorff, Mayank Markande, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Alzarri Joseph, Anmolpreet Singh, Siddhesh Lad, Ankul Roy, Evin Lewis, Pankaj Jaiswal, Ben Cutting, Ishan Kishan (wk), Aditya Tare, Rasikh Salam, Barinder Sran, Jayant Yadav.
Kings XI Punjab: Lokesh Rahul (wk), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Sarfaraz Khan, David Miller, Mandeep Singh, Sam Curran, Ravichandran Ashwin(c), Andrew Tye, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Mujeeb Ur Rehman, Karun Nair, Moises Henriques, Varun Chakravarthi, Harpreet Brar, Simran Singh, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Hardus Viljoen, Ankit Rajpoot, Arshdeep Singh, Darshan Nalkande, Agnivesh Ayachi.
