What

Kings XI Punjab will play the second of their must-win matches when they come up against the Mumbai Indians.

MI sit pretty at the top of the VIVO IPL 2017 standings and are the only team to be assured of a playoff spot. The equation for KXIP is simple; they have 12 points from 12 matches, and need four more points to give themselves the opportunity to compete for a playoff spot. 16 points might not guarantee a playoff spot, but that’s the least they need to stay in contention; if KXIP can win the remaining two matches and get to 16 points, they will then need other results to fall in their favour.

MI, who lost their most-recent match – to Sunrisers Hyderabad – will look to establish momentum as they head into the crucial business part of the tournament. Having played so well for most part of the season, MI will believe they deserve the insurance and a second chance to make the finals; for that, they will need to finish in the top two.

When

11 May 2017, 2000 Hrs IST

Where

Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

The Protagonists

Rohit Sharma needs 46 more runs to complete 3000 IPL runs for MI; the MI captain is coming into this match at the back of his highest score this season. Every significant score by the MI captain has been followed by a poor score in the next inning; can he break that trend now and stitch together a series of good scores? Lendl Simmons does not get as much recognition as he should; the Trinidadian has been a consistent performer for MI, and he will be expected to get the team off to a flier at the top.

On the bowling front, MI will look towards Mitchell McClenagahan to strike early, and hope Harbhajan Singh can stifle the batsmen in the middle overs.

Where KXIP are concerned, the three internationals – Martin Guptill, Shaun Marsh and Glenn Maxwell – need to play the lead role on the batting front. Axar Patel is having a very successful season all-round; the youngster is riding high on confidence and is now looking to make a contribution with bat, ball and on the field. Among the bowlers, Sandeep Sharma has generally set the tone for KXIP with early strikes and he will be expected to saw off the MI top order quickly.

Match within the match

Sandeep Sharma has gobbled up a few big names in the last couple of matches; his last five scalps are Aaron Finch, Suresh Raina, AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle. Can he continue that trend and also include Rohit Sharma to that list?

Head to Head

Overall: Matches played – 19, Mumbai Indians won – 10, Kings XI Punjab Won – 9

Trivia

Mumbai Indians are the only team in the world to win 100 T20 matches.

Kings XI Punjab’s Shaun Marsh has scored more runs against Mumbai Indians than against any other IPL team; he has scored 501 runs in 11 innings against MI with five half-centuries against his name.

The average first innings score in this season’s matches at the Wankhede Stadium is 163.

Spinners have been difficult to score off at the Wankhede Stadium this season; the overall economy rate of spin bowlers in this season’s matches at the Wankhede Stadium is 6.83.

KXIP’s Sandeep Sharma and MI’s Mitchell McClenaghan have been the two most successful bowlers in the powerplay overs this season; both bowlers have picked up 9 wickets in the powerplay overs.

What Next

For Mumbai Indians: Return Fixture (Away) Vs. Gujarat Lions at Kanpur, May 13 (4pm)

For Kings XI Punjab: Return Fixture (Away) Vs. Rising Pune Supergiant, May 14 (4pm)