Mumbai Indians (MI) will take on the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) in the seventh match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 on Sunday. Both the teams started their respective campaigns with a loss and they will be desperate to turn the wheels as soon as possible.
Both the teams need to work on certain areas to outplay each other. MI will look to improve on their bowling while KXIP would want their batsmen to fire. This match has all the elements that can make it a thrilling encounter. Let's have a look at the key battles from this match:
Rohit Sharma vs Mitchell Johnson: The MI hitman, Rohit Sharma, missed out on a century by just two runs in his first match against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), but still ended up being on the losing side. He would like to bring that momentum into this match as well. But it will not be easy as he will be up against the Australian speedster Mitchell Johnson. The latter had a good match with the ball against the Royals the other night, but could not lead his side to victory. He will relish bowling in this Mumbai pitch as well.
Glenn Maxwell vs Harbhajan Singh: Maxwell as we all know is one of the most dangerous batsmen the cricketing world has now. He missed out in his first match and he would be raring to go all guns blazing against Mumbai. Harbhajan did not have a happy day against the KKR where he was taken for plenty. He would look to rework on his line and length and pose a threat to this Aussie hitter.
Corey Anderson vs Axar Patel: Anderson proved yet again that he can hit the ball real hard and send it quite a distance. He will be a difficult customer to bowl to. He relishes batting against the left-arm spinners, but Axar will also look to vary his pace and flight against Anderson. He will look to stop Anderson from getting away.
Virender Sehwag vs Lasith Malinga: The former Indian veteran Virender Sehwag was out for a first-ball duck to Tim Southee in his first match of this season's IPL. The world knows that he is one of the most devastating batsmen and can hit the ball a fair bit of distance. Malinga looked out of rhythm and did not impress with the ball. He would look to come back strongly against this powerful hitters of KXIP.
David Miller vs Karanveer Singh: Miller too did not impress with the bat against the Royals but we all know what he is capable of. Karanveer Singh, the young leg-spinner, will look to deceive Miller and trouble him with variations. His googlies are hard to pick up and Miller is all ready to accept this challenge.
If both theses sides play to their full potential, then one can expect a close match.
