The penultimate match in the Indian Premier League regular campaign takes place on Monday and it is a huge game in the IPL 2025 season for the Mumbai Indians and the Punjab Kings when the two sides faces off in Jaipur.
The winners of this match will guarantee a top two finish and earn themselves two bites at getting to the final should they need them. The loser will be playing knockout cricket once the playoffs get underway so this is a big game.
Mumbai Indians
The Mumbai Indians have done well to make it through to the playoffs whatever happens in this match. When they had lost four of their opening five matches this looked like it was a campaign which was getting away from them but they came good just in time. It is hard to argue that they go into the finals as the form team as that break midway through the season halted any form that a team had but they are a team who knows how to get the job done when it matters.
They are also a team that knows that having two goes at reaching the final massively helps in the finals, especially if you can secure the spot at the first time of asking and get extra time to prepare for the title match. Mumbai have really come good with the ball in the second half of the season and with their batting now firing too they are going to be a tough nut to crack, although they do face the prospect of losing some overseas players soon.
Punjab Kings
The Punjab Kings have been the surprise package of the season so far and they have already achieved their first aim which was to end the ridiculously long run without a trip to the finals. They are guaranteed an extension to their season and they would love to finish in the top two and give themselves a couple of goes at reaching the final should they need it. A win here does that and would really rubber stamp an excellent first part of the campaign.
By and large when the Punjab Kings have won matches this season they have successfully flayed away with the bat and if that batting catches fire then they have the potential to be very dangerous. Their bowling certainly isn’t the worst in the competition but as players have come and gone it has been a little hit and miss but if they can put a good week of bowling performances together from here it could be very fruitful for them.
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Key Players
This is likely to be the final match of the season for Ryan Rickelton before he departs for international duty and the Mumbai Indians would love the opening batter to fire them to a spot in the top two before he leaves the scene.
Marcus Stoinis hasn’t had a huge impact in this tournament but he reminded us of the damage that he can do when he needs to win the last match with a brutal assault on the bowling. The Punjab Kings will hope he has similar here.
Betting
I do expect this match to be high scoring but a 52.5 boundary line might be a little on the high side. The last four first innings here have been in excess of 200 and it wouldn’t be a surprise if this was the same but 206 wasn’t enough here on Saturday but there were only 55 boundaries in that match so there isn’t much in terms of leeway for this line to be covered. You then have to factor in the four Jasprit Bumrah overs which aren’t likely to go for many boundaries and that throws that line into doubt.
The other thing to throw into the equation is that the previous match here was only on Saturday and so the square could play a little slower as a result of that. You wouldn’t say that the two middle orders are out of touch but at the same time you wouldn’t say they are in top form either so if either opening pair gets out early it could open an end up at some point. This Mumbai attack hasn’t conceded more than 161 in their last five matches and if that statistic extends to six this boundary line is unlikely to be threatened.
Tips
Back Under 52.5 boundaries for a 3/10 stake at 1.80 with Bet365
