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.