IPL 2018, MI vs KXIP Match Prediction: Who will win the match between the Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab
The Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday will play host to a must-win encounter between the Mumbai Indians and the Kings XI Punjab in the eleventh edition of the Indian Premier League.
Both teams come into the game on the back of defeats, but it won't be difficult to say which of the two sides would feel more demotivated at present. R Ashwin's outfit, touted by many only a week ago to breeze into the Playoffs, right now find themselves in a desperate change in tide after suffering a 10-wicket mauling at the hands of the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday.
On the other hand, the defending champions also need a victory to stay alive and will look to bring their 'A' game to the fore on their home turf on Wednesday night.
Date: 16th May 2018
Time: 8 P.M IST
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
If Mumbai Indians bat first
Predicted Score: 170+
The opening combination of Ewin Lewis and Suryakumar Yadav have got the side off to brisk starts at the top of the order, but it will be upto to the middle-order on Wednesday to back them up.
Rohit Sharma's scores in his last five innings read: 0, 36, 11, 24 and 0. He can ill-afford to have a bad game on Wednesday and will need to replicate the form he showed against the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the same venue.
Ishan Kishan has looked good and will also need to step up as will the Pandya brothers. The biggest threat for Mumbai to tackle will be the death overs. Ashwin will bank on Andrew Tye to keep the runs down at the final stages of the innings, but Mumbai will need to find a way to maximise the final overs.
If Kings XI Punjab bat first
Predicted Score: 140+
On the other end of the spectrum are the Kings XI Punjab, who began the tournament magnificently but have seen their fortunes change dramatically in the last few games, with consecutive losses at home making their path to the Playoffs difficult.
Their main concern has been their middle-order. Once KL Rahul and Chris Gayle have returned to the shed, nobody has stood up and taken the innings forward.
Aaron Finch has not delivered with the bat neither have the other Indian batsmen, the likes of Karun Nair, Akshdeep Nath and Manoj Tiwary. Marcus Stoinis too will need to elevate his game a bit.
Match Prediction
It's a do-or-die die fixture for both sides and purely because they have a history of doing well in knockout games, the Mumbai Indians will start favourites. But the Kings XI Punjab will surely be hurting after what happened on Monday and so they will come hard at the hosts as well.
It promises to be a cracker!
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