Mumbai Indians tamed the most threatening batting line-up and overcame a top-order stutter of their own on Wednesday in Bangalore to rise into the top half of the points table. After that uphill task against Royal Challengers Bangalore, they now face the bottom-ranked team, Kings XI Punjab, and another win, with a big margin, could take them into the top two.

After a rickety first few matches, Mumbai seem to have found their groove and have begun tightening their nuts and bolts. They have won matches when Rohit Sharma has not fired, their middle order won them their last match, their fast bowlers have done the early damage, and their spinners have been relatively economical.

The problems lie with Kings XI Punjab, who barely have any breathing space left. A loss on Friday will have them depending on slim mathematical possibilities, at best. In another season as also-rans, they rose a little too late in their last match, also against Royal Challengers, and lost by one run. While their Indian contingent has impressed, their overseas players have let them down. David Miller averages 16.37 after 10 innings, Shaun Marsh has flown back home, and there are now worries over Glenn Maxwell’s fitness. This negates most of the work Sandeep Sharma, Mohit Sharma and M Vijay have done. Kings XI might well need a serious overhaul if they are to upset Mumbai and keep themselves alive.

Squad:

Kings XI Punjab (probable): 1 M Vijay (capt), 2 Hashim Amla, 3 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 4 David Miller, 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Glenn Maxwell/Farhaan Behardien, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Mohit Sharma, 9 Anureet Singh, 10 Sandeep Sharma, 11 KC Cariappa

Mumbai Indians (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Parthiv Patel (wk), 3 Ambati Rayudu, 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Jos Buttler, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Harbhajan Singh, 9 Tim Southee, 10 Mitchell McClenaghan, 11 Jasprit Bumrah