The Mumbai Indians will be looking to continue their push for a playoff place on Friday when they play host to the Kings XI Punjab in the only Indian Premier League game on the day.
Delhi moved above Mumbai with a win on Thursday so the Indians will need to win to enhance their chances of extending their title defence into the postseason. The Kings XI have to win out to have any chance of reaching the playoffs but even then that is unlikely.
Mumbai Indians
After stuttering a bit at the beginning of the season Mumbai have finally got themselves in good order and have now won four of their last five and if they can finish the season in that vein they will most likely be back in the playoffs again.
The catalyst for their upturn in form has been the return to full power of Kieron Pollard. He lengthens their batting line up and contributes massively in the field. Rohit Sharma has found his best touch too which is never a bad thing.
Kings XI Punjab
The Kings XI have picked up in recent times and have won two of their last four matches. They were unlucky to go down in their last match when they were edged out by one run by the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
They are starting to bat a lot better which has helped them because their bowling has been carrying them for much of the season. The only problem is that it looks like this good run of form has come too late for them to sustain a playoff charge.
Team news
Although Parthiv Patel’s form hasn’t been great in recent times there probably isn’t an Indian player to replace him with that doesn’t affect the balance of the side so he might get an extended life but he’s certainly a player under pressure.
Kings XI are monitoring the fitness of Glenn Maxwell. If he is fit to return you would think that would signal the end of David Miller for a while. His form simply hasn’t been good enough this season and he looked all at sea in the previous match.
Form
Mumbai Indians: LWLLWLWWWLW
Kings XI Punjab: LLWLLLWLWL
Head to head: Mumbai Indians 9-8 Kings XI Punjab
In Visakhapatnam: First meeting
Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium
This will be the third match to be played on this ground this season. Mumbai were given the mother of all beatings in the first game here and then the Sunrisers edged out Pune in a low scoring match.
This is a pretty big ground and although the wicket generally isn’t bad for batting there is going to be a lot of cricket played here in the coming days with both Mumbai and Pune using the ground as their home for the rest of the tournament. With that in mind it would make sense for the pitches to become harder to bat on.
Betting
I would expect Mumbai to have the tools to win this game but I’m not sure I can back them at the prices given how heavily they were beaten in their first match here. Admittedly that was against a gun bowling attack that the Sunrisers have but the Kings XI don’t lack for bowling ability.
Kings XI are just beginning to pick up a little bit so this could be a bit closer than the odds suggest. I can’t bring myself to back the Punjab side but if I was going to back either it would be them at the prices.
Perhaps the best way to go about betting on this match though is to go into the sixes market where I’m not expecting too many in the way of sixes. We know the Kings XI haven’t been hitting many.
They don’t concede many either. Bangalore’s powerful batting line up only took them for three sixes last time out, albeit on a huge ground in Mohali but this one isn’t much smaller. Mumbai’s bowling has finally found their range at long last and with Amla likely to bat for long periods I just don’t see the Kings XI hitting many sixes. I’m not convinced they’ll concede many either so the sixes total should stay below 11.
Tips
WON – Back Under 11 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.91 with Bet365
Back it here:
