(Cricket news) Mumbai before the UAE leg looked in pole position to clinch a playoff spot but now look like in a precarious dilemma as they too need to win their remaining matches to qualify for the playoffs. The same applies to KL Rahul’s Punjab Kings who should have had two victories in the second leg but are in the same boat as RR, MI and KKR for the final playoff position.

Mumbai Indians will be hoping that with the welcome return of Hardik Pandya, their middle order gets some stability especially while chasing. The key to MI success would be to get the openers out quickly as Rohit Sharma would want the New Zealand duo of Trent Boult and Adam Milne to pick up some early wickets. Generally Jasprit Bumrah has bowled one over in the power plays; a trend going into the match can change as Bumrah has dismissed Mayank Agarwal 3 times in 14 balls, and conceded only 6 runs. The MI management might also look to play Dhawal Kulkarni in the side considering his record against Gayle and KL Rahul, he has dismissed Rahul four times and Gayle thrice.

Punjab Kings need to improve their middle order batting if they are to mount a serious challenge. This season, none of their foregin players have contributed significantly and cracked under pressure like we saw against RR. Big performances are required from the trio of Gayle, Pooran and Markram if they want to win against MI. Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh have been in red hot form as Shami has dismissed both the Pandya brothers thrice in 15 and 13 balls respectively, a match up that needs to be kept an eye on.

Head to head: MI 14 – 13 PBKS, the last time they met PBKS won comfortably by 9 wickets as KL Rahul scored 60*

Pitch and weather report: The pitch at Sheikh Zayed Stadium has been a 150-160 wicket as spinners as well as pace up front is proven to be effective, the trend so far has been win the toss and bowl, a practice which is likely to continue. The temperature is going to hover around 36 degrees and is expected to reduce as the game progresses. There is no chance of rain as of now.

Interesting facts:

• MI are on a 3 match losing streak their longest since 2015 where they lost four in a row but eventually went on to win the title
• PBKS has lost 6 out of the 8 matches in which KL Rahul has scored below 25
• Rohit Sharma has scored 163 runs against spin which is the third highest in the tournament
• MI are scoring rate of less than seven an over in the middle overs this season  

Also read: Mumbai Indians yet to find a win in second phase of the Indian Premier League

Probable XI for MI:

1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Ishan Kishan, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Adam Milne/Nathan Coulter-Nile, 9 Rahul Chahar, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Trent Boult

Probable XI for PBKS:

1 KL Rahul (capt, wk), 2 Mayank Agarwal, 3 Chris Gayle, 4 Aiden Markram, 5 Nicholas Pooran, 6 Deepak Hooda, 7 Harpreet Brar, 8 Ravi Bishnoi, 9 Nathan Ellis/Chris Jordan, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Mohammed Shami