Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab will face today

Putting behind the loss against KKR, Mumbai Indians would be keen to begin their IPL 2015 home campaign off to a winning start against Kings XI Punjab on Sunday. Both the teams go into this game after being defeated in their openers. KXIP were defeated by Rajasthan Royals in Pune on Friday. However, Mumbai Indians will go into Sunday’s game with a reasonable amount of confidence, especially after a good batting performance against Kolkata Knight Riders. Rohit Sharma, who decided to open the innings with Aaron Finch at the start of the current season, was in sublime touch.Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten 98, and his 131-run unbroken stand with Corey Anderson was a high point for Mumbai Indians in Kolkata. Sharma is someone who can bat for 20 overs, and can accelerate at a great pace. And He showed that against Kolkata Knight Riders, scoring 52 runs off the last 20 balls faced, and Mumbai Indians would love to see similar show from their skipper quite often this season. Andersona form was another great news for the Paltan and he is a big hitter, an impact player in shorter formats of the game. Anderson has the ability to change a game single handily, especially in T20 format, and with him at No 5 and Kieron Pollard at No 6, Mumbai Indians will feel comfortable against any attack in the IPL. But they would be wary of Mitchell Johnson’s pace and bounce, as well as Axar Patel’s accuracy. But Mumbai Indians have definitely got the strength to counter this Kings XI Punjab bowling attack. KXIP  didn’t have a great outing against Royals on Friday, especially in the batting department, ending up scoring 136 for 8 while chasing 163. Batting is the strength of the KXIP unit, with impact players like Virender Sehwag, Glen Maxwell, David Miller, George Bailey in their ranks. Royals have shown that such a batting line up can be contained, by taking wickets consistently. And that’s something the likes of Lasith Malinga, Vinay Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha and company would have to try and emulate on Sunday. Harbhajan Singh and Ojha have enjoyed bowling here in the past, and would be hoping to continue that on Sunday. The likes of Maxwell, Bailey, Miller love to go after the spinners, and it would be a treat to watch two top class spinners taking them on.