Jaipur, May 25: Mumbai Indians and Punjab Kings will be determined to give their all in the battle of top-two finish when they face each other in their final league stage fixture of the Indian Premier League here on Monday.
As the four teams — Gujarat Titans, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, MI and PBKS — have sealed the IPL playoff spots much earlier than ever before, the remaining league matches will determine the final standings.
With 17 points, PBKS are currently placed second but a defeat to MI will push them to the third or the fourth spot, setting them up for the Eliminator on May 30.
Finishing in top-two seems tougher for PBKS as they not only need a win against a formidable MI outfit but also hope GT (18 points) and RCB (17 points) lose their respective final matches.Thus, PBKS, who lost their previous game to Delhi Capitals, are in a must-win situation against MI in their push for a top-two finish.
For MI, their superior Net Run Rate among all the four qualifying teams can be beneficial if they beat Punjab Kings and GT and RCB lose their matches.Nevertheless, Punjab Kings will look to iron out the flaws particularly in their bowling after they failed to defend a total in excess of 200 against Delhi Capitals on Saturday here.
The venue’s short boundaries and batting-friendly wicket could ensure a high-scoring clash which would test the bowling attacks of both sides, but on this front, the Jasprit Bumrah-led MI have the edge.
Bumrah has taken only nine matches to take 16 wickets in this IPL, signalling his return to top form and fitness after a three-month injury layoff, but others in MI’s bowling line-up have also shared the burden equally.The new-ball pair of Trent Boult — third highest with 19 wickets — and Deepak Chahar (11) has done extremely well to help keep Bumrah for later stages of a match.
Hardik Pandya has floated well with spinners Mitchell Santner and Will Jacks, which makes MI’s bowling line-up more lethal when compared to Punjab Kings’.
Arshdeep Singh (16), Yuzvendra Chahal (14), who did not play the last game due to a niggle, and Marco Jansen (14) will thus have their task cut out against Mumbai Indians.
Suryakumar Yadav (583 runs) and Shreyas Iyer (488) have been the bedrock of their respective batting line-ups and their roles carry greater significance as the IPL approaches its business end.
Punjab will also hope their explosive opening pair of Prabhsimran Singh (486) and Priyansh Arya (362) finds a way and sets up a strong platform against a strong MI bowling line-up which has by far been their biggest strength.
Rohit Sharma has blown hot and cold and MI will hope that the senior batter finds consistency given he is set to have a new opening partner after this game. South African Ryan Rickelton, Corbin Bosch and England’s Jacks are set to join their respective national teams.MI will also be a little concerned with Tilak Varma’s dip in form. He had a high of hitting two consecutive fifties when the team began its turnaround but Tilak has three outings of single-digit scores, two did-not-bats and two knocks in 20s in the last seven matches.
Match starts at 7:30pm IST. (PTI)
