MI, KXIP in do or die tie

Mumbai, May 16

Hosts Mumbai Indians will fancy beating a floundering Kings XI Punjab when the two clash in a must-win match in the Indian Premier League here on Wednesday.After a string of losses initially, Mumbai’s hopes of making it to the knockouts were revived after three straight wins. But their eight-wicket defeat against Rajasthan Royals on Sunday has again put them on the back foot.While Mumbai are in sixth position with five wins from 12 games, a stuttering KXIP have slumped to the fifth spot with 12 points, having suffered their fourth defeat on Monday in five games.Mumbai, with an excellent net run-rate, need to put behind the humiliation by the Royals and come out with all guns blazing against an equally jittery KXIP, who have lost their way in the second half of the tournament after starting strongly.Mumbai’s middle-order was yet again exposed in the last game when their batsmen, including skipper Rohit Sharma, failed miserably.Only Suryakumar Yadav has been among the runs on a consistent basis and MI would be pleased with the return to form of West Indian opener Evin Lewis.But they need the others — especially Sharma — to contribute big. Save his match-winning knock against Royal Challengers Bangalore here, Sharma has failed to perform to his potential and MI need him in cracking form, backed up by the Pandya brothers — Hardik and Krunal.MI’s bowling too has been a worry. The likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik and left-arm pacer Mitchell McClenaghan will have to bowl cleverly to stop the rampaging KL Rahul and Chris Gayle from scoring big runs.All three may come up with a short-ball attack on the openers as Umesh Yadav had great success with the same tactic for RCB on Monday. The role of leg-spinner Mayank Markande (14 wickets) will also be crucial along with that of Krunal. KXIP too need to improve in all departments. The hand injury to rookie Afghanistan leg-spinner Mujeeb-Ur-Rahman was a big blow to Punjab and in his likely absence, Ravichandran Ashwin and Axar Patel need to take up the responsibility to take wickets in the middle overs.“We have to try and make sure we lift ourselves. We’ll have to keep a watch on the net run-rate but stay positive. We’ve got a reasonable bowling attack and a lot of experienced international players didn’t show up with the bat,” said KXIP skipper Ashwin