MOHALI: The Mumbai Indians team’s class and pedigree will be tested when it takes on an unpredictable Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League 2023 here on Wednesday.
A win will give Mumbai, which has eight points from as many matches, the much-needed push in the play-off race while a loss will dent its top-four chances. MI will be high on confidence after successfully chasing down a huge total and getting the better of fellow play-off aspirant Rajasthan Royals by six wickets in Mumbai on Sunday.
Having defeated Chennai Super Kings by four wickets in a nail-biter in Chennai on Sunday, Punjab, on 10 points from nine matches, will fancy itself to record a second successive win.
Tim David, Suryakumar Yadav and Cameron Green made match-winning contributions with the willow in the win victory over Rajasthan. The trio will look to continue their fine form while skipper Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan would hope to set the tone at the top of the order.
Bowling has been a huge concern for MI, which leaked a lot of runs in the last few matches. Pacer Jofra Archer gave a glimpse of his best in the previous match, but is yet to live up to the billing so far. The Englishman will be eager to make a mark against a Punjab team that scored 200 runs or more in its last three matches.
The PBKS batters fired in unison in the victory over Chennai and would hope to deliver again. While Prabhsimran Singh and captain Shikhar Dhawan laid the foundation with a positive start, Liam Livingstone brilliantly tilted the match in favour of Punjab with his big hitting. Sam Curran, Jitesh Sharma and Sikandar Raza then did the job in the end overs.
Having conceded 200 runs or more in its last three matches, PBKS will be desperate to improve its bowling performance. Playing its last home match of the season at the PCA IS Bindra Stadium – the team will play its last two ‘home’ matches at the HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala – Punjab will be keen to send the fans back home happy.
Visit news.dtnext.in to explore our interactive epaper!
Download the DT Next app for more exciting features!
Click here for iOS
Click here for Android