Kings and Mumbai Indians face-off at Wankhede

Kings XI Punjab will play the second of their must-win matches when they come up against the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium later in the day. MI sit pretty at the top of the 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. Rohit Sharma needs 46 more runs to complete 3,000 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.