What

Match 34 of VIVO IPL 2018 will see Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians come up against each other for the first time this season.

KXIP re-join the competition after a week’s break. From KXIP’s perspective, not a lot has changed in the last seven days; after their last match on April 26, they were third in the eight-team table, and they remain in the same position on return. KXIP have five wins and two losses so far this season – one of the losses coming against SRH in their most recent outing. The challenge for KXIP in this match is to recover from the rustiness that would have crept in during the break, and to quickly acclimatise to their adopted home ground; they had won 3 out of 3 in Mohali, and would want to extend that run in their adopted home ground too.

The Mumbai Indians’ chances of progressing to the VIVO IPL 2018 playoffs are hanging by a thread; after just two wins from 8 matches, they find themselves at the floor of the table and are staring at the prospect of becoming one of the first teams to fall out of the race for the playoffs. In their most-recent outing – on May 1 – their top-order collapsed, and as a result they fell 15 short of RCB’s total of 167. MI will be aware that the bottom half of the table is closely packed and they’re still in with a chance; for them to remain in the race, they need to win each one of their remaining matches, and hope to sneak in to the top four.

When

4 May 2018, 2000Hrs (IST)

Where

Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore

Impact Batsmen

In the four matches he has played, Chris Gayle has contributed nearly 40% of the runs scored by KXIP’s batsmen. KL Rahul is another vital cog in KXIP’s batting plans; the batsman from Karnataka has scored runs every time he has walked to the middle and has contributed nearly a quarter of the team’s runs. The runs, and the rate at which the pair have scored the runs – Gayle at 161.53 and Rahul at 170.70 – clearly illustrate how critical they are to KXIP.

Mumbai Indians have plenty of ammunition in their line-up. Yet, the two players who have repeatedly caused damage with the bat are Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma. Surya has always been an attacking batsman, and he seems to be relishing the opportunity given to him to bat at the top of the innings. The MI captain Rohit has scored two half-centuries this season – 94 against RCB and 56 not out against CSK – and those knocks resulted in MI’s two wins this this season; that clearly illustrates the impact he has on his team’s fortunes.

Impact Bowlers

Mujeeb ur Rahman’s four overs will be absolutely crucial. Where the rest of KXIP’s spinners have gone for 8.34 runs per over (and the quicks have gone at 8.74 runs per over), their Mystery spinner has only conceded runs at 6.51. That despite bowling in the powerplay, where his economy rate is even better – 5.85.

JaspritBumrah’s four overs will be crucial for MI. The 24-year old has an economy rate of 5.11 in the powerplay, 5.62 in the middle overs, and a very respectable 8.50 in the death overs.

Team Head to Head

Overall: Matches – 20, Kings XI Punjab won – 10, Mumbai Indians won – 10

In the last seven matches between these two teams, the visitors have prevailed. KXIP won twice in Mumbai and once in Visakhapatnam, while the Mumbai Indians won thrice in Mohali and once in Indore.

Trivia

Kings XI Punjab have won 3 of the 4 IPL matches they’ve played at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore.

Chris Gayle and KL Rahul have opened the innings on four occasions this season; they’ve stitched together partnerships of 96, 53, 116 & 55.

The last time Rohit Sharma played a T20 match at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore, he scored 118 off 43 balls in a T20 International against Sri Lanka.

All 5 IPL matches played at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore so far have been won by the team chasing.

Rohit Sharma’s record this season:

• In MI wins: Innings – 2, Runs – 150, Average – 150.0, S/R – 176.47, 50s – 2
• In MI losses: Innings – 6, Runs – 46, Average – 7.7, S/R – 90.19, Best – 18.

What Next

Kings XI Punjab will remain in Indore and play host to the Rajasthan Royals on May 6. The Mumbai Indians will be seen in action on the same too; at 4pm, they will play host to the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium.