Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians: Preview and Live Score

Indian Premier League started a week ago and so far, nine matches have taken place on different venues of the tournament. All of the eight participating teams have played two matches each. Cricket fans around the world are now enjoying this shortest version of cricket, while players are trying their best to contribute to the success of their respective teams. At this moment, Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Superstars have maintained 100 percent winning record, while there are teams: Mumbai Indians, Deccan Chargers and Kings XI Punjab- who are yet to see their first victory in the tournament. Today, Kings XI Punjab takes on Mumbai Indians. So, now it is almost certain that either of them is going to achieve their first win in the tournament.

Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians match will be held at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh. The match stars at 20:00 local (14:30 GMT). So, this is going to be the home match for Kings XI Punjab, which is captained by Indian star batsman Yuvraj Singh. In fact, this is the second home match for Kings XI Punjab, while this is going to be the second away match for the Mumbai Indians in Indian Premier League this season. Aside from the fact that both the teams lost their previous two matches, another similarity between the two clubs exists and that is, both Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians started the tournament with home defeats. So, you do not need to be a specialist to realize the guile of the two teams for their first win in the tournament. Having said that, I think, this is going to be a competitive match as both teams are gearing up to secure first point in IPL 2008. Both sides have some influential and star players who can bring a winning momentum for their respective sides by their own. What is needed for them is to come out of the shell and perform according to their caliber in the match.

Previous Performance of Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians

Kings XI Punjab encountered Chennai Super Kings in their tournament opener, which was dubbed as Yuvraj vs Dhoni battle as Dhoni was the captain of Chennai Super Kings. Kings XI Punjab lost the match by 33 runs, after the Punjab innings stopped at 207/5 chasing a huge target of 241 runs set by Chennai Super Kings thanks to a devastating century from Michael Hussey. Kings XI Punjab bowlers looked helpless and except Brett Lee, every other Punjab bowlers had an economy rate of more than 11 runs per over. However, two half centuries from James Hopes and Kumar Sangakara built up a welcome competition in the match. In the second match, Kings XI Punjab traveled to Rajasthan to face the host side. However, nothing special did happen for Punjab this time either as they suffered a 6 wicket defeat to Rajasthan Royals. Batting first, Kings XI Punjab amassed a fighting total of 165, but their bowlers failed to live up to the expectation once again. So, ahead of today’s match against Mumbai Indians, bowling remains a major concern for Kings XI Punjab.

The same story goes for Mumbai Indians as well. No doubt, in the presence of Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuria and Shaun Pollock, Mumbai Indians was thought to be one of the most formidable sides in the tournament. However, Mumbai received a blow even before they played their first match when Captain Sachin Tendulkar ruled out of the first match of Mumbai Indians with an injury. Unfortunately, Tendulkar later missed the second match of Mumbai as well. Vice captain Harbhajan Singh led Mumbai Indians in the first two matches. In the first match, Mumbai Indians faced Bangalore Royal Challengers, who came into the match with the experience of humiliating 140 runs first match defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders. However, Mumbai had to experience a 5 wicket defeat to Bangalore. Mumbai Indians set a competitive total of 165, which Bangalore Royal Challengers reached with two balls at hand losing five wickets. No Mumbai batsmen could score a half century, even though they have a very good batting line up. Their bowling was not up to the mark either without creating any pressure for the opposition batsmen. In the second match, Mumbai Indians traveled Chennai Super Kings and lost by 6 runs in a close match. Their performance was better this match compared to their first one. Chasing 209 runs, Mumbai Batsmen could reach 202 losing seven wickets. Still, their bowlers looked helpless to Mathew Hayden and Suresh Raina of Chennai Super Kings. However, their batting was improved in that match, even though the fact that no Mumbai batsmen could yet to reach the 50 runs mark. Actually, their batsmen failed to carry on their innings, which proved to be lethal for them.

So, you can understand that both sides picked up some weak points in their previous two matches and they must be working out the problems so that they could overcome those mistakes in today’s match. Both the teams were considered as favorite even before the tournament kicked off. However, unfortunately they are going to meet each other in their third match without any victory to their credit. So, it is time to show their skill and talent today.

There is big news for Mumbai Indians fans. Their injured captain Sachin Tendulkar is expected to be back in the side after recovering from groin injury. Mumbai Indians, as I said earlier, has a number of talented and experienced players. Their batting line up includes Australian hard hitter Luke Ronchi and Sri Lankan great Sanath Jayasuria, both coming to open the Mumbai Indians innings. However, they are yet to find their feet in the tournament. The middle order comprises of Robin Uthappa, Shaun Pollock and Dwayne Bravo and local player Abhishek Nayar. All of them have fame for their big hits. Nayar presented a close match with his late firecracker of 45 runs off only 20 balls against Chennai Super Kings in the recent match.

However, their major problem remains in their bowling as their bowlers are yet to get the best out of themselves yet in Indian premier league yet. Their pace attack consists of veteran Shaun Pollock, along with left arm pacer Ashish Nehra and right-arm medium pacer Dhaval Kulkarni. However, this pace attack is yet to justify its effectiveness yet in the tournament. However, the good news is that the Mohali track is expected to help the pacers and the curator said that they were prepared to tackle dew in the match. For spin attack, Mumbai depends on Harbhajan Singh, who bowled only two overs conceding only 14 runs against Chennai Super Kings in the last match. It remains a mystery to me that why Harbhajan did not complete his quota, while other bowlers were punished brutally by opposition batsmen. Though Sanath Jayasuria has fame for his left arm spin in international cricket, he is still under performed in bowling. I think, Mumbai needs a specialist spinner to support Harbhajan Singh well. However, given the wicket’s extended hand to the pacers, it is not likely to see Mumbai Indians playing an additional spinner against Kings XI Punjab today.

NDTV reported:

Tendulkar missed the first two games due a to a groin strain and is likely to appear in his first T20 match on Friday. Harbhajan Singh, who is handling the captaincy in the absence of Tendulkar, said on Wednesday that they were hoping to have the master blaster in the team against Kings XI…….

The top order remains a worry for the Mumbai Indians as Luke Ronchi and the explosive Sanath Jayasuriya have still to get their act together.
On the other hand, their middle-order comprising Robin Uthappa, Nayar and South African all-rounder Shaun Pollock looks impressive.
The bowling of the Mumbai side also looked flat and they conceded 200 plus runs against Super Kings on Wednesday.

Now, let’s come back to the home side, Kings XI Punjab. Yuvraj Singh team will be under pressure today to clinch their first victory in the tournament. Moreover, they are going to play at home and home crowds would definitely be happy to see Kings XI Punjab winning their first match. For batting, Kings XI Punjab has a number of star and formidable batsmen to watch out for. James Hopes, Kumar Sangakara, Mahela Jayawardene, Captain Yuvraj Singh, bowling all rounder Irfan Pathan are enough to destroy a bowling line up and they showed their ability in the opening match scoring 207 runs. Karan Goel opened with James Hopes in the previous two matches and they started off well in both matches. Their middle order includes Jayawardene, Sangakara, Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan. So, I do not see any problem with this batting line up except the need for performance. Their bowling line up is also balanced. Led by Australian pacer Brett Lee, their pace attack also has Sreesanth and Irfan Pathan. However, to be honest, all of them are still under performed in the tournament. They played leg spinner Piyush Chawla in the previous matches, but he completely failed to live up to the expectation. Kings XI Punjab also includes Ramesh Powar, who played for Indian national team. However, I am not sure if Kings XI Punjab would bring any chance in its spin attack today.

Telegraph India reported:

Though Yuvraj is one of the most dangerous batsmen in this format of the game, he is yet to unleash his real firepower. He scored 23 and 57 in his previous two matches.

Other top batsmen such as Mahela Jayawardene and compatriot Kumar Sangakkara would also look to play a big knock Friday.

Punjab’s strike bowlers are yet to live up to their reputations. Right-arm fast bowler Brett Lee and left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan had both been unimpressive.

Sreesanth is yet to come good for Punjab as he has proved expensive in the six overs that he has bowled in two matches. The spin department, with Piyush Chawla in the forefront, has also failed to click.

So, I think, both the sides have some excellent cricketers who could bring out first success for their respective teams in the tournament with their spirited performance today. What they need is to perform according to their talent. I think, Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians match is going to be an exciting match as both sides are striving for success at this moment.

Those who will not be able to watch the match on television due to personal or professional works, can visit the online live score websites from where you can get the online live score and updates of the match. Here, I am giving some links of online live score websites: