Mighty Mumbai face Gayle’s KXIP

Dubai: They have been in rampaging form with five straight wins but Mumbai Indians can ill afford to be complacent against a Chris Gayle-inspired Kings XI Punjab side in their IPL game here on Sunday. A win for Mumbai Indians will virtually seal them a spot in the play-offs while a loss for KXIP could send them out of contention. MI have steamrolled opposition teams with an explosive batting line-up complemented by a lethal bowling attack. MI boast of top batsmen such as captain Rohit Sharma (251 runs) and his opening partner Quinton de Kock (269) and both are in good touch, while the middleorder is manned by the likes of Suryakumar Yadav (243 runs) and Ishan Kishan (186 runs). On the other hand, KXIP are languishing at the bottom of the table despite having the top-two leading run-getters of the tournament in skipper K. L. Rahul

(387 runs at a strike rate of

134.84) and his opening partner, Mayank Agarwal (337 runs). KXIP’s problem has been that their batting and bowling have not fired in unison on most occasions even though their confidence has been boosted by the return of Gayle. Gayle made his first appearance this IPL with a bang, hitting a

45-ball 53, in KXIP’s win over Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore. Punjab’s bowling has been the weakest link. Barring Mohammad Shami and Ravi Bishnoi, none of the bowlers have inspired confidence. —