Mumbai Indians following their defeat at the hand of Delhi Daredevils in the previous match will look to turn things around and hit a consistent winning run when they face laggards Kings XI Punjab
Mohali: Mumbai Indians following their defeat at the hand of Delhi Daredevils in the previous match will look to turn things around and hit a consistent winning run when they face laggards Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League encounter in Mohali today.
Rohit Sharma
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In their last game on Saturday, the Mumbai outfit lost by 10 runs chasing a victory target of 165. Rohit Sharma (65) and Krunal Pandya (36) were unfortunate to get run out as Mumbai could only manage 154-7.
Mixed bag
Mumbai have so far had a mixed bag having won two games against Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bangalore while losing four.
On the other hand, Punjab, whose performance in the tournament so far has been pedestrian, have managed to notch up just one win from five outings and are placed at the bottom of the points table among the eight teams.
Mumbai side have suffered defeats against Rising Pune Supergiants, Gujarat Lions, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Daredevils.
MI initially struggled to get their team combination right but they did come good with a convincing chase of 170-plus score against Virat Kohli’s RCB.
Two-time title winners, MI slumped to defeats in both their home matches this season to IPL debutants Rising Pune Supergiants and Gujarat Lions and have now lost a game in their away campaign as well.
Top-order failure
Mumbai’s top-order batting has failed to come good so far barring the captain, who was instrumental in both their wins scoring superb half-centuries.
But in most games, the leading batsmen have failed to click as a unit. Martin Guptill, who replaced injured Lendl Simmons, failed to live up to the expectations in his first game against Sunrisers Hyderabad, prompting Mumbai team management to drop him against RCB and Delhi matches.
Much would depend on all-rounder Kieron Pollard as Mumbai look to keep up the pressure on struggling Punjab.
Englishman Jos Buttler disappointed in the previous game and India discard Ambati Rayudu is getting the starts but is not able to convert them into big knocks.
While Hardik Pandya has been off-colour, his brother Krunal is making the most of his opportunity with both bat and ball.
Mumbai bowling depend on the Kiwi duo of Tim Southee and Mitchell McClenaghan to make early inroads and they are expected to play against Punjab.
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