Punjab Kings (PBKS) ended the group stages in second place, and their win over Mumbai Indians (MI), on top of their clinical run throughout the season, helped them lock the spot to get two cracks at the final. They have run through their first chance, and for the final chance, they meet MI again.
One downside about the Qualifier 1 for PBKS was that it was played at the venue which was their home for some part of the tournament. Home venues this season have not exactly been very kind to teams on average, and similar was the case with PBKS, who hardly ever felt welcomed at New Chandigarh.
Luckily for them, they meet MI in Ahmedabad. And unluckily for MI, they play a high-stakes game such as this in Ahmedabad. They have only ever won one game in Ahmedabad, that too way back to the time Narendra Modi Stadium wasn’t as pompous as it is now.
It would be unfair, though, to establish that the only danger MI have in this game comes from a venue that has too often haunted them. Despite the brilliance MI have shown in the past few weeks to make a comeback and solidify their place in the top four, and despite the way PBKS were thrashed all around in the first Qualifier, they still are a side too vicious to be taken lightly.
Team Overview
Jasprit Bumrah is magical. If someone had any doubt about this, the previous game busted them to a great extent. GT were on the way to getting steady in their run chase after all, with Washington Sundar and Sai Sudharsan bringing down the asking rate. He was called back in the fourteenth over to stop the rot, and stop he did, with a 143 kph yorker that sent Sundar packing.
He has played 11 IPL games so far this season, which is the least number of games among all bowlers, barring Josh Hazlewood, who has played an equal number of matches, in the top ten wicket-taker list.
Trent Boult has hardly held back this season and is only four wickets away from snatching the Purple Cap from Prasidh Krishna. While Deepak Chahar’s return seems unlikely, and with Richard Gleeson also out with injury, Reece Topley may be in line for his MI debut.
Jonny Bairstow’s incredible performance at the opening spot in the Eliminator has fixed something which would have been a disaster if broken. This has given Rohit Sharma leverage to fire without having to worry about holding one end.
Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh carried PBKS’ batting duties for almost the entire tournament, but have failed to carry on after the resumption of IPL. The pair averaged 31.5 and 39, respectively, before the tournament was suspended. But since then, their batting averages have dipped down to 21 and 20.
This was also why PBKS ended up scoring 106 in their last game. That, and New Chandigarh’s tricky surface.
Shreyas Iyer and Prabhsimran Singh are PBKS’ contenders for the Orange Cap, and both are over 200 runs short of it, though Punjab would be more than happy with their contributions to get them to their first final since 2014.
Yuzvendra Chahal is likely to make a return, much to PBKS’ pleasure, though his presence might be limited to an Impact Player’s role.
Head-to-Head Matches
Mumbai and Punjab have played 31 games against each other and have almost been equal in the wins, with MI having 17 wins and PBKS 16 wins.
Weather and Pitch Report
Narendra Modi Stadium is one of the highest run-scoring venues in IPL this year. PBKS scored their second-highest total of the season here more than a month ago, and teams have hit 10.23 runs per over here. This game will be played on a red-soil pitch, which means pacers will get plenty of help even with the bounce staying the same. Teams batting second have only won one game here this year.
Prediction
PBKS will need to ensure they are at the top of their game both with the ball and bat to halt the MI juggernaut, which wouldn’t exactly be a piece of cake.
Where to Watch:
India: Star Sports Network, JioHotstar
UK: Sky Sports, SkyGo
USA: Willow TV
Australia: Kayo TV, FoxTel Go
Bangladesh: T Sports, Toffee app
New Zealand: Sky Sports NZ
Afghanistan: ATN
South Africa: SuperSport
Sri Lanka: Dialog
MENA: Cricbuzz
