Indian Premier League 2019 Match 9, Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians: Preview, likely XIs, predictions

Kings XI Punjab will host Mumbai Indians for the first match of the third round of IPL 2019. Punjab defeated Rajasthan Royals at their den – a match remembered more for R Ashwin Mankading Jos Buttler than the actual result – before going down against Kolkata Knight Riders.

Mumbai, on the other hand, were stunned by Rishabh Pant in their tournament opener against Delhi Capitals. However, they turned things around at Bengaluru with a 6-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore, albeit after a no-ball controversy. A win here will push either side to the top three.

Mumbai should take encouragement from their win and Lasith Malinga’s return to the fray. They now have three outstanding pacers in Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah (who turned the Bangalore match around), and Mitchell McClenaghan. Their other bowlers – Kieron Pollard and the Pandya brothers – are all big hitters.

Punjab lack quality all-rounders, a weakness that may be exploited by the Mumbai bowlers. They will pine their hopes on their explosive batsmen and a potent bowling attack – Ashwin himself leading the pack – but there are too many specialists in the side.

Head to head

Mumbai hold a slight advantage (12-10) over Punjab, nosing ahead only after the last edition, where they had won both matches.

Punjab had scored 174/6 at Indore (Chris Gayle 50, Bumrah 4-0-19-1) but lost with one over to spare (Suryakumar Yadav 57).

And at Wankhede, Kieron Pollard (50 in 23) took Mumbai to 186/8 (Andrew Tye took 4/16), but Punjab fell 3 short despite KL Rahul’s 60-ball 94. Bumrah had 3/15.

Key players

Mayank Agarwal (Kings XI Punjab): All eyes were on Gayle and Rahul during the Kolkata match, but Agarwal emerged out of their shadows to score a whirlwind 34-ball 58. He had also played a neat cameo against Rajasthan.

Yuvraj Singh (Mumbai Indians): Is is the Yuvi of yore? Yuvraj had top-scored against Delhi. And against Bangalore he brought back memories of Durban 2007 when he lofted Yuzvendra Chahal for three consecutive sixes. Though Chahal got him with the next ball, there is little doubt that Yuvraj has regained some of his old touch.

Likely XIs

Kings XI Punjab: KL Rahul (wk), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Sarfaraz Khan, David Miller, Mandeep Singh, R Ashwin (c), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Varun Chakravarthy, Mohammed Shami, Andrew Tye.

Mumbai Indians: Quinton de Kock (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Yuvraj Singh, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Mitchell McClenaghan, Mayank Markande, Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah.

Prediction

Mumbai, because of their big-hitting all-rounders.