IPL 2017 | Match 51 Preview: Mumbai Indians vs Kings XI Punjab

05/11/2017

Kings XI Punjab will take on in-form Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium tonight in what is a must-win game for the visitors. While table toppers MI have already sealed a berth in the playoffs, Kings XI need to win both their remaining games to keep alive their chance of making the last four.

MI and Kings XI have completely different priorities going into tonight’s clash. While Mumbai will look to consolidate their position at the top of the points table and build momentum moving into the business end of IPL-10, Kings XI need to win to stay alive in the competition.

Head to head:

Mumbai lead 10-9.

Last Meeting:

Jos Buttler (77) and Nitish Rana (62) fired as MI successfully chased down 199 to win by eight wickets.

Fan Predictions:

As part of the preview, we bring to you fan predictions for the talking points of the game. The predictions are sourced from the newest fantasy game on the block – Nostragamus. If you want to make your predictions and win prizes, click here.

Who will win?

Both teams are in need of a win in order to reach their goals in this IPL as MI will look to cement their place in the top-2 while, KingsXI need to win both of the remaining games in order to give themselves any chance of making the playoffs. MI holds a slight edge in the 19 H2H games played between the two sides (10 - 9), but have been dominant at home by winning 6 of the 7 matches. In the last H2H match this season, MI chased down the target of 199 runs inside 16-overs despite Hashim Amla scoring a wonderful century(104) in the 1st-innings. Because of MI's dominance, we believe MI will put paid to Punjab's hopes of finishing in the top 4.

Fans verdict: Mumbai Indians it is, with 66% swayed by their all-round abilities.

Who will take more wickets?

A. Mitchell McClenaghan B. Sandeep Sharma C. Equal

Both McClenaghan (17) & Sandeep (16) have taken the most number of wickets for their respective teams in this edition of the IPL. In the IPL overall, Sandeep has been the spearhead for the Kings XI pace attack for the past few seasons & has taken 70 wickets at an avg of 21.8 whereas McClenaghan has claimed 38 wickets at an avg of 23.6 for MI. It would be interesting to see how the opposition teams will handle these two in the early overs - with both subject to some swing with the new ball. In the reverse of this fixture played this season, McClenaghan claimed 2 wickets to Sandeep's none. With Punjab's batting looking weak, McClenaghan looks more likely to make inroads.

Fans verdict: McClenaghan is the call, with 49% believing in his abilities.

Predicted XI:

Mumbai Indians: Parthiv Patel (wk), Lendl Simmons, Rohit Sharma (C), Nitish Rana, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Harbhajan Singh, Karn Sharma, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga.

Kings XI Punjab: Manan Vohra, Martin Guptill, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell (C), Gurkeerat Singh, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Axar Patel, Darren Sammy, Rahul Tewatia, Mohit Sharma, Sandeep Sharma.

Key Players:

Lendl Simmons (MI): Although the West Indian has been a consistent performer for MI, he hasn’t always got the credit he deserves. But that shouldn’t stop the opener from trying to get MI off to a flyer.

Glenn Maxwell (KXIP): Once again the onus will be on the skipper to lead his side by example. Maxwell will need to get a big one tonight if Kings XI are to keep their hopes alive.

Pre-Match Chatter:

"My role in the side is to go out and take wickets, be aggressive and try and get the key batsmen out. It's important for me to be able to do that role throughout. I bowl a lot of hard overs as well when guys are either in or they're trying to hit towards the end. Even if I get hit for runs, I back myself to be able to come back and do the job the next over or the next game", MI fast bowler Mitchell McClenaghan.

Time: 8 pm

Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

TV Listings: Sony Six, Sony Six HD, Set Max, Sony ESPN