After convincing wins over Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad, an inspired Mumbai Indians host Kings XI Punjab tonight. The first meeting between the two sides saw Punjab come out victorious via a KL Rahul half century.
Mumbai Indians are currently the team on the rise. After losing their first encounter vs KXIP, the side has gone on to win 2 games straight while displaying some amazing performances.
Hardik Pandya was the star of the show vs CSK where he went on to smash a 8 ball 25 to propel the team’s score to 170. He then followed it up with 3 wickets to guide MI home. The following match saw Alzarri Joseph make the headlines for posting the best figures in the history of the tournament. His 6/12 on debut saw MI defend a modest total of 136.
Thus MI who are currently high on confidence host KXIP, who have seen a mixed bag of results since their last meeting. The usual flair seems to be missing with the side as their batting order have struggled towards the end. Even in their win vs SRH, the side set about chasing the target in a cautious manner.
Death bowling for Punjab seems to be yet another concern and they will now have to face the likes of Pandya and Pollard tonight.
Team News:
Lasith Malinga returns to the MI squad after leaving for national duty. In case Malinga is included today, it will have to be Jason Behrendoff making way for him. With Kishan having the ability to keep wickets, Quinton de Kock could see his spot being taken by Evin Lewis, who has till now only warmed the bench.
Expected XI: Quinton de Kock, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishen, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Alzarri Joseph, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga/Jason Behrendoff.
Despite having a weak death bowling attack that could be torn apart today, Ashwin will most likely retain the same side that beat SRH on Monday. The interesting thing to spot will be on how their batters pace out their innings today.
Expected XI: Chris Gayle, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Sarfaraz Khan, David Miller, Mandeep Singh, Sam Curran, R Ashwin, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Mohammed Shami, Ankit Rajpoot.
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IPL 2019- CSK vs KKR Review: Super Kings thrive in fortress to bring down Russell and co.
