KXIP vs MI IPL 2020
Both Kings XI Punjab and Mumbai Indians lost a close encounter in their previous outings respectively. Both the teams are all set to face each other for the first time in IPL 2020. Both teams KXIP vs MI IPL 2020 would like to win this match and forget their “So close yet so far encounter”. The last time these two sides faced off in IPL 2019, Kieron Pollard pulled off an epic heist despite KL Rahul’s maiden IPL ton.
Mumbai Indians also lead in the head-to-head between these two teams with 13 wins to KXIP’s 11. KL Rahul and co will look to close that down with a win on Thursday. With both sides looking for their second win of the season, we should be in for a very intense contest between two of the best batting units in the competition.
Match Details
Match: Kings XI Punjab vs Mumbai Indians
Date: 1st October 2020, at 7:30 PM IST
Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
What To Expect:
Abu Dhabi is one of the slowest of the three grounds in IPL 2020. The batsman would need some time in the middle before going big. Although there is some turn on offer, dew has played its part with the square boundaries also not doing the spinners any favours.
Having wickets in hand is vital at this venue with the conditions not likely to change much during the game. The average first innings score at Abu Dhabi in IPL 2020 is 165, which throws some light on the competitive nature of the surface. Both teams would ideally look to bowl first with dew possibly having a say later in the game.
Kings XI Punjab
Punjab’s openers KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal are the highest scoring batsmen in the competition and will be critical to their fortunes once again. However, they will be hoping for more from the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Karun Nair, who is yet to fire in this competition. The only one change they might consider is bringing Jordan instead of Cottrell.
KXIP Predicted Playing XI:
KL Rahul (C&WK), Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Glenn Maxwell, Nicholas Pooran, James Neesham, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravi Bishnoi, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Sheldon Cottrell/Chris Jordan.
Mumbai Indians
the team would be happy with Ishan Kishan’s breakthrough knocks against RCB although he did fall one run short of a well-deserved ton. This might prompt MI to play him ahead of Tiwary. There is a lot of room for improvement in the bowling department as well with Bumrah also fading away at times.
MI Predicted Playing XI:
Rohit Sharma (C), Quinton de Kock (WK), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, James Pattinson, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah