Mumbai lock horns with Punjab in pivotal clash

Mumbai Indians 186 for 8 in 20 overs [Krunal Pandya 32 (23), Kieron Pollard 50 (23); Andrew Tye 4-0-16-4, Ravichandran Ashwin 3-0-18-2] beat Kings XI Punjab 183 for 5 in 20 overs [KL Rahul 94 (60), Aaron Finch 46 (35); Jasprit Bumrah 4-0-15-3] by 3 runs.

Kings XI began their campaign with five wins in seven matches.

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Pitch: The Wankhede pitch has produced some good game of cricket this season, so we can expect that even this game will produce 165-170 runs. "We are not one of the top champion sides to be very honest, we are one of those sides that punched above our weight in the first half of the competition", Ashwin said at the post match press conference. Delhi Daredevils will get one more companion after tonight's match.

One change for Mumbai Indians: Kieron Pollard comes in, JP Duminy misses out.

"It is an important stage for us, we know that if we win (the next) two games, we will make it (to the play-offs)". I expected some dip, that's what has happened. A single lose will out from the tournament, However, the same condition/Scenario is applicable on KXIP's graph, they also can't afford a single defeat.

Humiliated by 10 wickets in their previous outing by Royal Challengers Bangalore, Punjab brought back the experienced Yuvraj Singh and Manoj Tiwary in place of the misfiring duo of Mayank Agarwal and Karun Nair.

With 10 points from 12 matches, Mumbai's hopes are hanging by the most slender of threads.

Where will Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) vs Rajasthan Royals (RR), IPL 2018 match be played? Both the teams will be looking to surge into top four as they face off for the second time this season. The two teams have previously met in this year's IPL, with Mumbai beating Punjab on that occasion in Indore. Presently, they are sixth on the league table with five wins from 12 games. Other players also played well but they lost the match by three runs. And as the innings progressed, despite the sapping humidity which had both the batsmen in some trouble, they paced the visitors' innings well.

Pollard came to Mumbai Indians' rescue after the side had been reduced to 71 for four with a 65-run partnership with Krunal Pandya.

After losing Chris Gayle (18) early on, Rahul and Aaron Finch (46) added 111 for the second wicket to put the visitors on course but Jasprit Bumrah broke the unsafe stand with the Australian's wicket in the 17th over.