Batting fixes in order at Wankhede

Sunday, April 12, 2015
Start time 2000 local (1430 GMT)

After losses in their respective first games, Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab have a few issues to fix when they face each other. Mumbai Indians' innings stuttered at the start in Kolkata against the pace of Morne Morkel and Umesh Yadav, and Kings XI did not fare any better in Pune against James Faulkner and Tim Southee. Wankhede Stadium could provide respite from those lively pitches and allow the strokemakers to flourish.

But it's the bowling that could prove to be the difference between the teams. While Kings XI looked well-rounded with pace, swing, and spin, Mumbai Indians hardly made an impression against Knight Riders. Lasith Malinga's bulging waistline maybe hampering his bowling, or maybe the batsmen are used to him, but he did not look menacing at all. Pragyan Ojha, with his remodelled action, appeared to have lost his bite and Harbhajan Singh has long been on the wane. That Josh Hazlewood decided to opt out is going to put more pressure on the current lot.

Kings XI would be satisfied with the way they bowled and are not likely to change a thing at Wankhede, except, perhaps the batting order, with promotions for David Miller and George Bailey. It is likely to be a run-fest. Mumbai Indians score their runs at comfortably more than eight an over on this ground, but Kings XI, in their seven matches here, score at a rate even faster than the home side.

Kieron Pollard is one of the icon players for Mumbai Indians but was almost invisible in the first game in Kolkata. He did not bowl, he did not get a chance to bat and when he took a catch, it was one of the easiest chances, not a madcap one-handed leap. In Mumbai, while in the outfield, he usually gets the crowd going. That was not going to happen in Kolkata. Now back in Mumbai, expect Pollard to be more vocal, more present.

Playing his first IPL match in six years, Anureet Singh impressed not only with his movement - his known strength - but also his pace. One of his deliveries on Friday was clocked at 148 kph. He was as incisive from over the stumps as around, which added another dimension to his bowling. Kings XI let go an experienced bowler in L Balaji, but if Anureet keeps bowling like he did against Rajasthan Royals, Kings XI will continue posing problems for top-order batsmen.