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IPL 2023 Predictions: PBKS vs MI
Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians will clash in Match 45 of the IPL 2023 on Wednesday evening in Mohali.
Mumbai Indians have been very inconsistent in their campaign so far. They are placed in the seventh spot with eight points and four wins and four losses out of eight matches.
MI would be aiming to win yet another match against Punjab Kings and also strengthen their place in the points table.
In their last match, PBKS defeated Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by 4 wickets.
Batting first in the match, CSK piled up a mammoth 200-4 in 20 overs, led by Devon Conway’s explosive 92 runs.
However, Prabhsimran Singh’s 42 and a quick-fire 40 by Liam Livingstone sealed PBKS’ victory on the final ball in a nail-biting thriller.
MI also pulled off a spectacular victory in their previous encounter against Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede stadium.
The latter put up a gigantic total of 212-7 on the board with an impeccable knock by Yashasvi Jaiswal (124). However, Suryakumar Yadav’s half-century and Tim David’s quick-fire 45 off 14 balls towards the death overs helped MI win by 6 wickets.
32 of 59 IPL matches in this venue have been won by the team fielding first. So we predict that both teams will want to bat second after winning the toss.
This is a good batting wicket with an average first innings score of 194 this season. The last match at this venue yielded 458 runs. So we can expect another high-scoring game.
Key players
Shikhar Dhawan has scored two half-centuries this season, more than any other player in the side and might do well against Mumbai Indians.
Arshdeep Singh has taken a wicket in all nine matches of the 2023 IPL and he is a strong choice for Punjab Kings’ top wicket taker in this game.
Liam Livingstone is one of the biggest game-changers in the Punjab side, with an IPL strike rate over 150, despite his inconsistent play.
His 40 run knock in just 24 balls in their last game against CSK, sealed Punjab’s victory.
Suryakumar Yadav has overcome a poor start to the tournament and is now looking back to his best. With the ball, Piyush Chawla has taken 13 wickets with a strike-rate of 14.31 and could be Mumbai Indians’ top wicket taker in this match.
After initial hiccups, Cameron Green, the Australian all-rounder has been in the great form and is averaging 48.60 in the tournament.
Tim David is being touted as a perfect replacement for Kieron Pollard. David is a hard-hitting finisher capable of clearing the fence with ease. He has scored 158 runs in 8 innings at a strike rate of 169.89.
Also Tilak Varma is in great nick and is the leading run scorer for the side this season with 248 runs at an average of 41.33
There were two changes in the bowling department for Mumbai Indians in their win over Rajasthan Royals in Match 42.
Arjun Tendulkar and Jason Behrendorff made way for Jofra Archer and Arshad Khan. Both are expected to retain their places in the side.
Probable Playing XI
Punjab Kings:
Prabhsimran Singh, Shikhar Dhawan(c), Atharva Taide, Livingstone, Raza, Jitesh Sharma(wk), Sam Curran, Shahrukh Khan, Rabada, Chahar, Arshdeep Singh
Mumbai Indians:
Rohit Sharma(c), Ishan Kishan(wk), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Nehal Wadhera, Kumar Kartikeya, Arjun Tendulkar, Riley Meredith, Piyush Chawla, Jason Behrendorff
Who will win
There is very little to choose between these sides.
Punjab Kings have the stronger bowling attack but batting line-up for Mumbai Indians is much more formidable with the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Green and David.
More importantly, all the above with the exception of Rohit are in great form.
Traditionally, MI have been slow starters but are now looking like a proper well-oiled machine. Hence our prediction is that MI will win.
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Smriti Mandhana and Ellyse Perry star in RCB women’s comeback win against UP Warriorz in WPL 2024
RCB women overcame UP Warriorz by 23 runs to clinch their third win of the season. The home side outperformed Warriorz in all the facets of the game and emerged victorious. A collective team effort, particularly with the bat, helped RCB women to beat Warriorz for the second time in the season. They now have three wins in their five matches in the WPL 2024.
Alyssa Healy won the toss and opted to field first. Given how things have panned out in the league so far, it needed a great batting performance from RCB to challenge the chasing side. The home side did exactly that. They were full of intent which was lacking in the last few games. Right from the start, S Meghana and Smriti Mandhana smashed the bowlers.
It was the night of the RCB skipper. The Southpaw scored 80(50) in her stay. S Meghana perished after a valuable 28(21). Ellyse Perry batted well and registered her first fifty of the WPL 2024. She was aided well towards the end by Richa Ghosh whose 21(10) propelled RCB to a score of 198 on the board. It was the highest team total in the WPL 2024.
Alyssa Healy’s efforts go in vain
Chasing the daunting total, UP Warriorz were off to a flier. The opening duo of Healy and Kiran Navgire gave a fiery start to the visiting side. When the two were batting in the PP overs, it seemed like the Warriorz could pull off an insane chase. However, Sophie Devine brought RCB back into the game with crucial wickets. At Bengaluru, the home crowd was literally behind the RCB women.
It helped the home side to stay calm and do their job with ease. Sophie Molineux and Asha Sobhana were the pick of the bowlers, who claimed 2/29 each in their spell of four overs. While Healy scored a fifty and Deepti tried her best in the death overs, ten daunting targets could not be chased down. Despite the early hiccups, RCB managed to restrict UP Warriorz to a score of 175 and won by 23 runs.
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WATCH: Ellyse Perry in disbelief as her six breaks car’s window
Ellyse Perry smashed a six in the match against UP Warriorz in the WPL 2024. It was an interesting six as the ball travelled towards the boundary ropes and fell exactly on the window of the car. As a result, the glass of the window was broken. The car is set to be provided as a reward for the player of the tournament.
It was the over of Deepti Sharma towards the last few moments of RCB’s innings. Before Perry struck, the home side was in a great position in the match, thanks to a great start provided by Smriti Mandhana. The star batter scored 80 (50) and shined in front of the home crowd. Her form helped RCB to have a good momentum towards the death overs.
Watch the viral video here –
ELLYSE PERRY HAS BROKE THE GLASS OF THE CAR…!!! 🤯
– The reaction of Perry was priceless!! pic.twitter.com/zaxiQLLN1r
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) March 4, 2024
Perry, who was struggling till that point, opened up and smashed the bowlers for fun. She went hard against the spinners like Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Deepti Sharma who were asked to bowl at the death. The right-handed batter smashed back-to-back sixes in the over of Sharma. One of those travelled towards the mid-wicket region where the car was stationed. The video of her shot has gone viral on X.
RCB teammates laugh, Ellyse Perry in disbelief
As the ball fell on the car and damaged the window, the fans erupted. There was no end to the joy of the fans who started chanting “Perry.. Perry..” and lit the atmosphere of the stadium. However, Perry was in disbelief. As she saw the impact of the ball damaging the car’s window, the Australian batter could not believe her eyes and thought about what she had just done.
On the other hand, the RCB teammates of Perry were in awe of the shot. They looked at the replays and appreciated the shot of Perry. At the same time, players like Sophie Molineux and Sophie Devine had a laugh about the car’s window getting damaged. Ellyse scored a fifty and helped her team score 198 runs with her batting in front of the home crowd.
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Praveen Kumar addresses Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer’s negligence of taking part in Ranji Trophy
Praveen Kumar has given his opinion on the preferences of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer in recent times. The duo did not take part in the Ranji Trophy matches for their respective teams despite being fit. It did not go well with the Indian Cricket Board which landed the duo without a ventral contract which was announced a few days back.
Praveen Kumar has reacted to the issue recently. The former India pacer claimed that he has been of an opinion on the issue for a long time. Praveen felt that one should definitely earn money but not at the cost of neglecting to play for domestic and national teams. The right-arm pacer felt that players today are having a certain mentality which is not good.
The former pacer claimed that the players have a mindset that they can rest for a month before taking part in the IPL, thereby bypassing playing for their national team or the domestic teams. Praveen felt that the players could not resist letting go of money which they could earn by taking part in the IPL and other T20 leagues (For foreign players).
‘Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chodun’ – Praveen Kumar
“This thing is now firmly in the mind of players. Mai ek mahine pehle rest kar lunga, fir IPL khel lunga. Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chodun,” said Praveen in the interview. He claimed that youngsters these days are spoilt and are behind money. The former RCB pacer felt that it is not fair on the part of the young players to neglect the country over the IPL.
Kumar felt that a player needs to maintain a balance between playing for the IPL team and for the country. He felt that money is an important factor, but not at the cost of playing for the national team. “But this is not fair at all. A player needs to balance things. Money is important, but this (giving franchise cricket the priority) is wrong,” said the former Indian bowler in the interview.
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