Placed in the bottom half of the table with four points each after six games and separated only by NRR, Punjab and Mumbai will both eye victory tonight
MI’s Jasprit Bumrah during practice in Mullanpur. Pic/Mumbai Indians
Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians will be desperate to resurrect their faltering campaigns in the Indian Premier League when the two bottom-rung teams face-off here on Thursday.
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Only a few decimal points separate the two teams after six matches each with Punjab’s marginally better Net Run Rate of -0.218 keeping them at the seventh spot in the IPL points table, one above Mumbai Indians (-0.234).
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Four losses each
Both Punjab and Mumbai have lost four matches each and are coming off defeats in their respective last outings, which means pressure will be high on both camps to get their act together. For Punjab, the challenge of getting the best out of their top-order has compounded with regular skipper Dhawan being sidelined for ‘seven to 10 days’ due to a shoulder injury.
The only bright spot for PBKS this season has been resolute displays from their unsung Indian players Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma, who both bat lower in the order and have had to make up for the shortcomings at the top more than once.
Bowling, a worry for PBKS
PBKS will have to find more support for their overseas bowling duo of Sam Curran (126 runs and 8 wickets) and Kagiso Rabada (9). The Indian pair of Arshdeep Singh (9) and Harshal Patel (7) have both been easy targets for batters.
MI would know they have enough firepower to turn the tide, but a collective effort on a consistent basis is the need of the hour. Two wins at home against Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru did end their three-match losing run, but a loss to Chennai Super Kings forced them to go back to the drawing board.
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