Mumbai and Punjab in do-or-die situation
new delhi — Eyeing a play-off berth, defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) will take on Delhi Daredevils (DD) in a mustwin game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Ferozshah Kotla here on Sunday.
While Delhi have nothing to lose after being already out of the race for the play-offs, the Rohit Sharmaled side still have a chance to advance to the next stage, which only a win in their last league encounter and better net run-rate (NRR) could gurantee them.
Apart from Mumbai, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) share 12 points each and with a sole match remaining for them, any of the four could make to the final four.
With the race for the play-offs becoming an interesting scenario, Mumbai will have to register a win with a huge margin to further boost their chance.
After a lacklustre show in the first half of the season, Mumbai finally shifted gears to win four of their last five games, keeping themselves alive in the cash-rich league. In their last game, Mumbai pipped Punjab by a meagre three-run margin. However, what could be a major relief for the team management would be Keiron Pollard finding his touch back.
Mumbai’s batting mostly relies on opener Suryakumar Yadav, who as amassed 500 runs 13 innings averaging around 38. He has found support from his partner Evin Lewis but, only on few occassions.
Both the openers now carry the responsibility of handing a decent start to Mumbai, either to chase or for putting a good total on board.
Delhi, on the other hand, will once again hope to entertain the fans with fireworks from Rishabh Pant, skipper Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw and Jason Roy.
With nothing to lose, Delhi is expected to test their bench. In such a scenario, the likes of Manjot Kalra, Gurkeerat Singh Mann and Sayan Ghosh may get a look-in.
In Pune, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) face the herculean task of stopping a star-studded Chennai Super Kings to seal a play-off berth when the two sides face-off in their last IPL league game at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium here on Sunday.
Apart from Punjab, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Mumbai Indians (MI) also share 12 points each and with a sole match remaining for them, any of the four could make to the final four.
With the race for the play-offs becoming an interesting scenario, Punjab will have to register a win with a huge margin as their net runrate reads a poor -0.490.
The Ravichandran Ashwin-led side kicked-off the 2018 season on a decent note, winning five of their first six games but faultered in the business end of the league.
Barring opener KL Rahul, who has 652 runs from 13 innings, Punjab have failed to click as a unit. —