Punjab Kings face stern test against rampant Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 2
A rampant Mumbai Indians will present a stern test of character for a rattled Punjab Kings in a virtual semifinal when the two teams face off in Qualifier 2 of the Indian Premier League here on Sunday.
An eight-wicket hammering at the hands of Royal Challengers Bengaluru in a one-sided Qualifier 1 may have eroded some amount of confidence in Shreyas Iyer's Punjab Kings, who are now in a do-or-die situation as they dream of winning a maiden IPL trophy.
On the other hand, Mumbai Indians took another stride towards a potential sixth title with a comprehensive victory, which knocked out title favourites Gujarat Titans in the Eliminator.
History tells Mumbai Indians know their way around these lanes of IPL knockouts better than either of the other two teams left in the competition and that certainly tilt the scales in favour of Hardik Pandya's side.
But coach Mahela Jayawardene's challenge would be to keep his troops organised which the former Sri Lankan captain has been able to do exceedingly well after taking over a side that finished at the bottom in the previous season.
For the the Iyer-Ricky Ponting pair, the task would be to ensure their players put behind the crushing defeat in their last game and channel their energies to fight the fires that have erupted particularly in the bowling line-up, where Arshdeep Singh is carrying extra pressure.
The absence of Marco Jansen and unavailability of IPL's highest-ever wicket-taker in Yuzvendra Chahal was evident when PBKS scrambled to find options to apply pressure on a spicy wicket in Mullanpur against RCB.
But at the same time, PBKS camp could feel that that 'one bad day', collectively for their batters and especially in the knockouts, is now behind them and that it did not rob them of an opportunity to make the final.
PBKS would also know the margin of error is getting leaner looking at how Rohit Sharma pulverised GT's bowling attack and set up the win for MI, riding on a couple of early lifelines to produce a match-winning knock.
A holistic view would perhaps leave one without spotting any chink in Mumbai Indians' armour who have fired on all cylinders. They would continue to lean on their rich blend of Indian players including Rohit, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma and Pandya to come together.
MI will also be particularly pleased with how their new recruits Jonny Bairstow and Richard Gleeson eased into the heat of the competition to deliver their bits, which at the end, proved vital in crushing GT on a batting-friendly pitch.
After all, the outcome of the contest at the Narendra Modi Stadium could well be decided over how the two bowling attacks execute their plans since the surfaces here have regularly produced high-scoring games.
Jasprit Bumrah's exploits and a clever deployment of the ace Indian bowler across the 20 overs have been one of MI's biggest strengths this season.
While Bumrah's accuracy and guile has not allowed the batters to score runs off him easily, PBKS would also want to draw from their win over MI earlier this season when despite his measly returns, they were able to go over the line with seven wickets in hand.
Suryakumar's unmatched consistency with the bat met with a sparkling knock from Tilak Varma against the Titans but for PBKS, it will be important to have their explosive opening pair of Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya finding their rhythm to set the tone.
Teams (from):
Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rohit Sharma, Tilak Varma, Bevon Jacobs, Robin Minz (wk), Krishnan Shrijith (wk), Naman Dhir, Raj Bawa, Mitchell Santner, Jasprit Bumrah, Arjun Tendulkar, Ashwani Kumar, Reece Topley, Karn Sharma, Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar, Satyanarayana Raju, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Raghu Sharma, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Richard Gleeson, Charith Asalanka.
Punjab Kings: Shreyas Iyer (c), Nehal Wadhera, Vishnu Vinod (wk), Josh Inglis (wk), Harnoor Pannu, Pyla Avinash, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Harpreet Brar, Azmatullah Omarzai, Priyansh Arya, Aaron Hardie, Musheer Khan, Suryansh Shedge, Mitch Owen, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur, Kuldeep Sen, Xavier Bartlett, Pravin Dubey, Kyle Jamieson.
