Venue – : Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore Date & Time: May 04,  08:00 PM  LOCAL

A week’s break is a luxury for teams in the Indian Premier League, and Kings XI Punjab are coming out of just that as the rejuvenated side will look to get back to their dominating ways that was on display earlier in the tournament. When they last played on April 26, Kings XI suffered only their second reversal of the competition after which they dropped down to the third spot. Despite their time away from cricket, they are still inside the top four on the points table, although a few teams have made steady progress ever since. KXIP will be eager to re-establish their status as one of the top teams in IPL 2018, and the first step in that endeavour will be against a jaded Mumbai Indians side, for whom the clock is ticking.

KXIP’s inability to chase down a target of 133 against expert-defenders Sunrisers Hyderabad was because of a below-par performance of the middle order. While KL Rahul and Chris Gayle yet again gave the team a good start, the likes of Mayank Agarwal, Aaron Finch and Manoj Tiwary had disappointing outings that caused a major collapse. Whether the loss was a lesson well learnt remains to be seen, but KXIP will be pleased with the fact that their next two games are both at home at a venue that is ideal for their flamboyant batsmen.

On the other hand, their bowlers – notwithstanding their good performances in their previous games – might feel some pressure considering the batting-friendly tracks that have been the norm in Indore and the short boundaries. This will be another captaincy test for the shrewd R Ashwin, who has marshalled his resources well thus far.

For Mumbai Indians, rooted to the bottom of the table with only two wins from eight games, time is ripe for them to pick themselves up like they have in the past. In 2014, they were in a similar position – only four points from their first eight matches – but they managed script a dramatic turnaround to finish fourth on the points table with 14 points and eventually clinched the title. But for them to mirror those efforts, MI have to first address some issues, mainly with their batting.

Rohit Sharma has been blowing hot and cold, Ishan Kishan hasn’t been able to extend the good form he showcased earlier in the season and the middle order hasn’t delivered too. This has put pressure on Evin Lewis and Suryakumar Yadav to provide good starts at the top and while the latter has been consistent, MI’s batting overall hasn’t been, and that has put them in a precarious position. Despite their bowlers doing a decent job in their last few matches, the batting has been a major let down and the defending champions will be hoping to rectify that quickly in a bid to keep their title aspirations alive.

When: Friday, May 4 at 8:00 PM IST

Where: Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore

What to expect: Only a few months back Rohit had registered the joint-fastest T20I hundred at this venue, while Rahul came close to a brisk hundred. In the previous season, MI had chased down 199 with nearly five overs to spare while KXIP completed comfortable chases in the other matches here. Be it batting first or second, big scores have been the trend in Indore and is likely to be the case during this IPL as well.

Team news:

Kings XI Punjab: Barinder Sran has been expensive in his last few outings and KXIP might consider bringing back Mohit Sharma for the left-arm pacer. They could also look at strengthening the middle order by including David Miller in place of Finch, who has had a poor IPL so far.

Probable XI: KL Rahul (wk), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Manoj Tiwary, David Miller, R Ashwin (c), Andrew Tye, Mohit Sharma, Ankit Rajpoot, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.

Mumbai Indians: Evin Lewis’s fitness status is still unknown although Aditya Tare stated that “he had an injection and he should be fine.” If the West Indian has made sufficient recovery from his wrist injury ahead of the game, he is likely to come back into the eleven at the expense of Kieron Pollard, who has looked off colour in this IPL.

Probable XI: Suryakumar Yadav, Evin Lewis/Kieron Pollard, Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma, JP Duminy, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Ben Cutting, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah, Mayank Markande.

Head to Head

KXIP 10 – 10 MI

Team Record in Indore

The sides met each other once before in Indore in 2017 when MI chased down the target of 199 in just 15.3 overs.

Interesting face-offs

Yuvraj vs MI: Among the sides participating this season, Yuvraj’s record against MI is the worst for him against an opponent. His average of 15.24 & SR of 110.68 is the lowest for him against an opponent against whom he played at least ten innings in IPL.

Pollard vs Mohit: Mohit has dismissed the Trinidadian thrice in 34 balls conceding just 37 runs. Pollard has hit only three boundaries off Mohit. Mohit has taken 22 wickets in 14 matches against MI at an average of 20.14, SR of 13.95 and ER of 8.66.

Rohit vs Ashwin: Rohit has scored only 46 runs from the 47 deliveries he faced from Ashwin getting out once in the exchange.

The post Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians 34th Match – Live Cricket Score appeared first on Its a Free World to Blog | Blog Directory | Article Directory.