Big picture: Two explosive batting units go head to head
On Sunday, two teams chased down 200-plus targets in thrilling fashion and broadened the pool of playoffs contenders in IPL 2023. Punjab Kings are one of five teams with identical records - five wins from nine games - ranging from No. 2 to No 6 on the table and separated only by net run rate, while Mumbai Indians are just outside that group, with eight points and a game in hand.
Kings face Mumbai for the second time this season, on Wednesday, in what looks like a clash of similarly-matched teams with similar strengths and weaknesses. Both are explosive batting units that go hard from start to finish, and both are among the weaker bowling attacks in the competition. Mumbai have the worst economy rate and third-worst bowling average of any team this season, and Kings have the worst average and third-worst economy rate.
Their previous meeting played true to type. Kings set a target of 215, and Mumbai were well in it until Arshdeep Singh dismissed a red-hot Suryakumar Yadav in the 18th over of the chase. It could have gone either way, and Wednesday's meeting could go either way as well. Just be sure to bring an umbrella if you're planning to be in Mohali - to guard yourself from big hits as well as the real threat of rain.
Form guide
Punjab Kings WLWLW (last five completed games, most recent first)
Mumbai Indians WLLWW
Team news
Chris Jordan has joined Mumbai's squad for the remainder of the IPL season, but it is as yet unknown which overseas player he has replaced.
Impact player strategy
Punjab Kings
Harpreet Brar played in Kings' last match against CSK but did not get to bowl or bat, with his left-arm spin going unused against a left-hander-heavy line-up. There is a chance it may happen again if Mumbai's left-handers spend a good amount of time in the middle, but Kings have Sikandar Raza to match up against them, and like having the insurance of Brar's hitting ability down the order.
Kings likely XII 1 Prabhsimran Singh, 2 Shikhar Dhawan (capt), 3 Atharva Taide, 4 Liam Livingstone, 5 Sam Curran, 6 Jitesh Sharma (wk), 7 M Shahrukh Khan, 8 Sikandar Raza, 9 Harpreet Brar, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Rahul Chahar, 12 Arshdeep Singh
Mumbai Indians
There is a chance Mumbai could bring in the offspinner Hrithik Shokeen to match up against the three left-handers expected to feature in Kings' top order - Shikhar Dhawan, Atharva Taide and Sam Curran.
Mumbai likely XII 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Cameron Green, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Tim David, 7 Nehal Wadhera, 8 Piyush Chawla, 9 Jofra Archer, 10 Hrithik Shokeen/Kumar Kartikeya, 11 Riley Meredith/Jason Behrendorff, 12 Arshad Khan
Stats that matter
Kings have been the weakest spin-bowling team of IPL 2023, by a distance. Their spinners have taken the fewest wickets (12) of any team, and have the worst average by far (51.26, with Delhi Capitals a distant second-worst at 28.66) and the second-worst economy rate (8.75, better only than Royal Challengers Bangalore's 9.24).
Part of the reason for this is that Mohali hasn't been a great venue for the spinners, who have averaged 33.69 here while conceding 8.39 runs to the over. Spinners have a worse average only in Guwahati (34.62) and Bengaluru (34.56) this season, and a worse or equally bad economy rate only in Bengaluru (9.28), Ahmedabad (8.86), Kolkata (8.85) and Guwahati (8.39).
Rahul Chahar has endured his worst IPL season in terms of wicket-taking. While he averaged in the 20s in each of his previous five seasons, he has averaged 84.33 this year, taking just three wickets in 186 balls so far.
Arshdeep has bowled four balls to Ishan Kishan in T20s and dismissed him twice.
Jitesh Sharma (220.00) and Tim David (214.54) have the third- and fourth-best death-overs (17-20) strike rates of all batters who have faced at least 24 balls in this phase during IPL 2023. Only Vijay Shankar (290.00) and MS Dhoni (225.00) have done better.
Pitch and conditions - Rain and sixes forecast
The first three games in Mohali this season produced first-innings totals ranging from 153 to 191 while the fourth one saw Lucknow Super Giants ransack 257 for 5, the second-highest total in IPL history. While teams batting first have won three out of four games at the PCA Stadium, the team winning the toss may prefer to chase given the threat of rain and revised targets.
