IPL 2018, Match 34, KXIP vs MI, Match Prediction: Who will win the match today, Kings XI Punjab or Mumbai Indians?

The Mumbai Indians have put themselves into a situation where every game is a knockout for them now and even one defeat will end their campaign. Although they are familiar with it as they have made it to the playoffs from such situations in the past, there is no denying the fact that replicating such efforts every season is no child’s play.

The Kings XI Punjab are in a far better situation with 5 victories in 8 games. They need to win 3 out of 6 to finish among the top 4 and unless they completely lose the plot and play some rank poor cricket in the remaining games, it’s hard to foresee them making it to the playoffs.

Pitch and Conditions

This will be the first match at the Holkar Stadium in Indian Premier League (IPL) 11 and the fans can anticipate a high scoring game based on the track-record of this venue. It’s a bowlers’ graveyard in terms of the nature of the pitch that it has and with the ground also being one of the smallest in the country, the sixes are bound to galore. The fact that both the teams possess some of the cleanest and the strongest hitters of the cricket ball will further add to the misery of the bowlers.

Playing Combination

Kings XI Punjab

Probable Changes – Aaron Finch out, David Miller in

Aaron Finch has been given too many opportunities despite his consistent failures and the Punjab management might be running out on patience with him. He is on the verge of being dropped and replaced by David Miller who is a specialist middle order bat and might be able to provide Punjab the push they are lacking in the latter stages of the innings.

Manoj Tiwary was given a game ahead of Yuvraj Singh against the Sunrisers Hyderabad and although he couldn’t make the opportunity count, he is likely to have another crack tomorrow. However considering the size of the boots he is filling, Tiwary needs to make sure he proves his worth soon, else it will be difficult to keep somebody like Yuvraj on the bench for a long time.

Predicted XI: Chris Gayle, KL Rahul (WK), Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Manoj Tiwary, David Miller, Ravichandran Ashwin (C), Andrew Tye, Barinder Sran, Ankit Rajpoot, Mujeeb Zadran

Mumbai Indians

Probable Changes – Kieron Pollard out, Evin Lewis in

Evin Lewis was out injured for the RCB game and Mumbai Indians played Kieron Pollard for him who registered yet another failed performance in the middle order. If Lewis regains full fitness for this one, he, in all likelihood, will replace Pollard and resume his job of opening the innings which subsequently means Ishan Kishan, who opened in his absence, will be pushed down to no. 3.

Mitchell McClenaghan bowled a horrible 20th over at Chinnaswamy and was carted around the park by his compatriot Colin de Grandhomme. It cost Mumbai dearly as it shifted the momentum in RCB’s favour, but the left arm seamer might not be handed the axe given the way he bowled previously in the game. He was absolutely magnificent bowling in the powerplay and should be able to retain his spot in the XI.

Predicted XI: Evin Lewis, Surya Kumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (WK), Rohit Sharma (C), JP Duminy, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Ben Cutting, Mitchell McClenaghan, Mayank Markande, Jasprit Bumrah

Team Comparison

Punjab’s weakness is their lower order batting which has been virtually non-existent so far. While they seem heavyweights with their top 3, they can lose the plot if the opposition rips into them early with the new ball. Mumbai doesn’t have that problem, but they are struggling with the indifferent form of their batters. They need more consistency from their big, gun players, particularly the skipper Rohit Sharma who has had quite a few low scores to his names in between a couple of fifties that he has scored.

Ankit Rajpoot has added pace and bounce to the Punjab attack and has also been able to extract a fair bit of seam movement to go with it. The 24-year-old has been a real strike force for the hosts in the powerplay and the skipper Ravichandran Ashwin will be hoping for an effective spell from him again. Mumbai’s bowling trump card, on the other hand, will be Jasprit Bumrah whose 4-over quota will be worth its weight in gold on the smallish ground in Indore.

Probable Top Performers

Ankit Rajpoot (Kings XI Punjab), Rohit Sharma (Mumbai Indians)

Head to Head

Matches – 20, Kings XI Punjab – 10, Mumbai Indians – 10

The timing of the match: 08:00 pm IST

Broadcast Details

TV – Star Sports 1, Star Sports Hindi, Star Sports Select 1

Online – Jio TV, Hotstar

The prediction is for the Mumbai Indians to beat the Kings XI Punjab in this match.