The Kings XI Punjab face the Mumbai Indians in match 13 of the Indian Premier League at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
KXIP suffered a shocking loss to the Rajasthan Royals after they achieved a total that should have been impossible to chase. But they were wrong. The Mumbai Indians lost in a tight Super Over to the Royal Challengers Bangalore.
On to the SWOT now.
The SWOT for KXIP
Strengths: KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal have scored 222 runs and 221 runs respectively this season. They are first and second on the list of top run-scorers. The two have made it difficult to select Chris Gayle in the playing XI.
Weaknesses: The pace attack looks weak. Only Mohammad Shami has consistently bowled well. KXIP used Chris Jordan in their first match. He leaked 56 runs and went wicketless. Sheldon Cottrell bowled an abysmal over against RR and was clobbered for 30 runs. That changed the match result. Will Rahul drop Cottrell now and bring back Jordan? A tough call. Can the other Indian pacers step up?
Opportunities: The spin duo of Ravi Bishnoi and M Ashwin have together got 8 wickets. They could be the best bowling combo in the tournament. Keep a close eye on them and the impact they will continue to have for the team.
Threats: If Rahul and Agarwal fail in the same match, the middle order will be exposed and they have not been tested. There is a serious concern about the lack of game time for the rest of the batsmen.
The SWOT for MI
Strengths: The batting line-up is MI’s forte. Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Kieron Pollard have got fifties with Suryakumar Yadav chipping in with useful runs.
Weaknesses: They need to finish tight matches. What brought them the title last year was the ability to push through in battles of small margins. They need to find that touch again.
Opportunities: Should Chris Lynn be tried out? MI have 11 matches to go, so a bit of rotation might be useful. Lynn has got a T20 strike-rate of 140+ and more than 5,200 runs. Ishan Kishan should keep his place after the runs in the last match. He can also keep wickets to give Quinton de Kock a break.
Threats: The team's all-rounders need to do better. The Pandya brothers and Kieron Pollard have together snagged two wickets and scored 142 runs. MI need them to do big things if they want to defend their title.
Head to head:
Matches Played: 24
Kings XI Punjab: 11
Mumbai Indians: 13
Last five matches (most recent first):
Kings XI Punjab: L-W-L-W-L
Mumbai Indians: L-W-L-W-W
Deccan Herald’s Dream XI
Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (wk), Mayank Agarwal, Glenn Maxwell, James Neesham, Kieron Pollard, Trent Boult, Rahul Chahar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah
Ground conditions
The temperature will be around 31 degrees celsius. The humidity will be around 60%. The sky will be clear with a gentle breeze.
Team news
MI's Nathan Coulter-Nile is still recovering from a side strain. That should make him unavailable. No injury issues reported for KXIP.
Impact player for KXIP
KL Rahul: He has smashed a record-breaking hundred and a half-century. He has also anchored the innings where needed. If KXIP want to beat MI, Rahul needs to be at the forefront.
Impact player for MI
Trent Boult: The pacer has got wickets for MI in all three matches so far. The only other bowler to manage this feat is Rahul Chahar. Against a promising batting line-up, Boult is likely to be the game-changer again.
Betting odds (bet365)
Kings XI Punjab: 6/5
Mumbai Indians: 33/50
How to watch
The match will be broadcast live on the Star Sports network. Viewers can also catch the action online on Disney+Hotstar. The match begins at 7.30 PM IST.