Sunday, 12 April 2015
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.
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