Mumbai Indians were considered a strong contender for the title at the beginning of the season. The team had made a great start in the very first match by easily achieving the target of 221 runs against Kolkata Knight Riders. But after this the condition of the team continued to deteriorate. Now MI are ninth in the points table with just two wins from nine matches and their playoff hopes are almost at an end.
Mumbai troubled by players’ injuries
Almost everything has gone wrong for Mumbai this season. Captain Rohit Sharma is struggling with a hamstring injury while big batsmen like Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya have not been able to perform as per expectations. Jasprit Bumrah is also struggling in taking wickets. However, before the match, Rohit gave a fitness test and also batted in the nets. If he plays, the team can get big support.
Lucknow lost 5 consecutive matches
On the other hand, the condition of Lucknow Super Giants is also not any better. The team had initially won two out of three matches, but now their position has become weak with five consecutive defeats. While Lucknow’s fast bowlers have performed well in bowling, the batting has been a complete flop. Especially the performance of Nicholas Pooran has been very disappointing. After coming down from number-3, he has scored only 82 runs in eight innings.
Although Lucknow now has players like Josh Inglis available, the team will have to put up a collective batting performance to win. Naman Dheer has been a positive for Mumbai. Batting at the top of the order, he has scored two half-centuries and one 45-run innings in five innings. His 233 runs are the second highest in the team.
Mohsin Khan will be under watch
Mohsin Khan of Lucknow is in excellent form in bowling. He has taken nine wickets in four matches and his economy rate is 6.37, which is the best this season. He has also dismissed Hardik Pandya twice.
Talking about statistics, Jasprit Bumrah has always troubled batsmen like Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram and Rishabh Pant. Puran is also seen struggling against him.
Another high scoring match is expected in this match to be played on pitch number-4. Earlier, on the same pitch, Punjab Kings had easily achieved the target of 195 runs. The weather will be hot, but there is no chance of rain.
Mumbai Indians (probable): 1 Will Jacques, 2 Ryan Rickelton (wk), 3 Naman Dheer, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Tilak Verma, 6 Hardik Pandya (c), 7 Robin Minz, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Trent Boult, 10 AM Ghazanfar, 11 Jasprit Bumrah, 12 Raghu Sharma
Lucknow Super Giants (Probable): 1 Mitchell Marsh, 2 Aiden Markram, 3 Rishabh Pant (captain, wk), 4 Josh Inglis/Nicholas Pooran, 5 Ayush Badoni, 6 Himmat Singh, 7 Mukul Chaudhary, 8 George Linde, 9 Mohammed Shami, 10 Prince Yadav, 11 Digvesh Rathi, 12 Mohsin Khan
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