Sky247 Staff
Punjab Kings started their tournament with a bang but their graph has gone down considerably since then. They have lost three consecutive matches and desperately need a win to get their campaign back on track. Their batting order looks way too vulnerable at the moment.
Though KL Rahul has a couple of fifties, he hasn’t looked at his fluent best. Mayank Agarwal too has been very inconsistent. The middle-order is another major concern as Nicolas Pooran has three ducks in four games, Deepak Hooda has turned out to be a one-match wonder.
They’re also a batsman short with Moises Henriques batting at 6. So there’s a lot to sort out for Punjab Kings. Also, they seem to over-rely on Mohammed Shami in the bowling department. Apart from him, we don’t see any bowler who can be termed as a genuine match-winner.
For Mumbai, they owe their two wins to the bowlers as their batting has been poor to say the least. Yes, the surfaces in Chennai hasn’t been the best for batting but still, they could have applied themselves better. They are lucky to have one of the best bowling attacks in the tournament that has helped them bag four points. However, they’ll need their batsmen to start performing as quickly as possible.
Pitch Report – The match will be played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The surfaces are slightly sluggish in nature thus the batting is not the easiest job. Also, chasing has been a nightmare here thus toss is expected to play a crucial part.
Team News
Punjab Kings
Nicolas Pooran is having a torrid tournament thus there are high chances that Punjab will look to replace him with Dawid Malan.
X-Factor
KL Rahul
The skipper has to lead from the front. Though he hasn’t been at his best, he has scored two half-centuries in four games. A good knock from him at the top will ease the pressure from the middle order.
Probable XI
KL Rahul (c&wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Moises Henriques, Nicholas Pooran/Dawid Malan, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan, Fabian Allen, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
Team News
Mumbai Indians
Despite their poor outing with the bat, we don’t think that Mumbai will be too keen to make any changes to their combination. They are a pretty settled unit and are known to back their players.
X-Factor
Rahul Chahar
It’s not easy to bat against the spinners in Chennai and Rahul Chahar has bowled really well. Looking at the vulnerable middle order of Punjab, Chahar can be a trump card for Rohit Sharma.
Probable XI
Quinton de Kock (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Jayant Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult
Also relive how Tendulkar destroyed Australia
Follow SKY247.net for all the latest cricket, football, and other sports news from all parts of the world.
