Mumbai Indians vs Punjab Kings, IPL 2023, Today Match Prediction

mi vs pbks Match Prediction & Analysis

Mumbai Indians will take on Punjab Kings in their third home game of the season. Rohit Sharma and co. bounced back quickly after losing their first couple of matches. 

Rohit Sharma and Tilak Verma led the successful run-chase against DC in Mumbai’s first win of the season. MI have looked in great form since then with the batters delivering consistently.

Punjab Kings, on the other hand, are struggling with inconsistency and also made a mess of their team selection in the last game. Not playing Kagiso Rabada against RCB turned out to be a costly decision as Punjab allowed the RCB openers to get away with a 137-run opening stand.

Surya’s lack of form isn’t a big worry for MI at the moment since others are stepping up and making big contributions. Shikhar Dhawan’s absence is hurting PBKS. 

Not only are they struggling to put up a solid opening stand, but are consistently losing wickets in the powerplay. As both teams look to break into the top 4 in the rankings, it will be advantage MI at the Wankhede.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Mumbai Indians Preview

MI will be looking to extend their winning run as they aim for their 4th win of the season. They are back at their home ground in Mumbai where they recently defeated KKR chasing a target of 186 runs.

Ishan Kishan’s 58 off 25 balls helped MI gain the advantage in the run chase. Not just that, but their bowlers also managed to restrict the opposition to some extent, not allowing KKR to score over 190-195.

Piyush Chawla has been consistent with this leg-break and will again be a key bowler for MI. Rohit Sharma will bring in Chawla when Punjab’s Matthew Short is on the crease. 

Short has been dismissed by a leg-break bowler twice in his last 3 innings and once by a right-arm off-break bowler. Behrendorff will also be expected to deliver the early breakthrough in the powerplay when he bowls against Atharva Taide. 

But on the other hand, if Dhawan comes into the side, Arjun Tendulkar will be under pressure to bowl his two overs in the powerplay. Cameron Green is another promising bowler in this lineup. 

He is also a very handy batsman down the order. Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan look in fine touch at the top and will get MI off to a flying start. SKY will also be eager to score some runs at his home venue. The most promising and consistent batter in this side to watch out for is the young Tilak Verma in the middle order.

Mumbai Indians Predicted Playing XI:

Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Cameron Green, Arjun Tendulkar, Nehal Wadhera, Hrithik Shokeen, Piyush Chawla, Jason Behrendorff

Mumbai Indians Actual Playing XI:

Arjun Tendulkar, Piyush Chawla, Jason Behrendorff, Cameron Green, Timothy David, Jofra Archer, Hrithik Shokeen, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav

Punjab Kings Preview

Sam Curran will be under a lot of pressure to lead the Punjab Kings in the absence of the regular captain Shikhar Dhawan. Though he led them to a win over LSG, it wasn’t a very convincing one.

Punjab were not far from a victory in their last game against RCB while chasing 175 runs in Mohali. Only if they could keep wickets in hand and not lose Curran to a lazy run out, Punjab would have been over the line.

Liam Livingstone adds great value to any T20 side in the world. However, he was out too soon in a crucial run chase. If he continues to be in the side, he will be the key batsman to watch out for.

Jitesh Sharma’s knock in the last game will have given Punjab some confidence in their lower order. Though there is also Shahrukh Khan lower down the order who can play a finisher’s role, Punjab have been too dependent on the top and the middle order.

After losing 4 wickets, it seemed as if Punjab were done and dusted but the last game showed the true potential of the PBKS lineup. Their bowling effort deserves praise as they pulled back RCB’s innings and restricted them to below 180.

Arshdeep Singh, Sam Curran, and Rahul Chahar are out top picks in the Punjab bowling attack. Chahar has played for MI in previous seasons and can be an asset against them at the Wankhede.

Singh has executed his plans perfectly well and will be key in the death overs too. Punjab should be considering Rabada over Nathan Ellis if they are to put any sort of pressure on the in-form MI batting lineup.

Punjab Kings Predicted Playing XI:

Atharva Taide, Matthew Short, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Nathan Ellis, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh

Punjab Kings Actual Playing XI:

Arshdeep Singh, Atharva Taide, Matthew Short, Prabhsimran Singh, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Singh, Harpreet Brar, Jitesh Sharma, Rahul Chahar, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

The new-ball bowlers can enjoy a bit of swing and movement in the first innings but as the match progresses, the pitch gets more favourable for batting. Both pacers and spinners are known to extract some help from this surface. It offers a good contest between bat and ball and promises exciting T20 encounters. It will be a sunny day in Mumbai with a high of 32 degrees Celsius.

Venue Details

Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai will be the venue for this IPL fixture. The average 1st innings score here is 167 runs. However, that is just the par total and we reckon the team batting first will need to post something over 190 to give themselves a good chance of winning.

Toss: To Bowl

It is a good venue for chasing and of the 106 domestic T20s played on this ground, teams batting second have won 58. In this season, both games at this venue went in favour of the team batting second. Both teams have power-hitters in their lineup who can finish things off chasing 12 an over at the death. Both skippers would consider to bowl first on winning the toss.

MI vs PBKS
Winning Prediction

Punjab has a great deal of concerns to address. Right from selection and injuries to players’ form, there is a lot to address for the visitors. The home team, on the other hand, have their key players in great form and also have the home advantage on their side. Punjab’s bowlers could make a big impact once again and will allow them to stage a comeback in the game. However, with an inconsistent batting lineup, they are on the backfoot coming into this game. And hence, MI will start as favourites in our match prediction.

Our prediction is for Mumbai Indians to win

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