MI vs KXIP Match Prediction: Who will win the match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab, IPL 2016, Match 43

The 43rd match of the VIVO IPL 2016 will see defending champions Mumbai Indians take on Kings XI Punjab at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ADA-VDCA Stadium in Vishakapatnam. The campaigns of the two teams in this season of the IPL are going in completely different directions. While Mumbai already have 6 wins under their belt and are in a good position to reach the playoffs, Punjab are placed at the bottom of the table with just 6 points and 4 matches left to play.

Despite the fact that they are currently 4th in the points table, MI's performance in the 2016 IPL has lacked consistency. However, they are one of the few sides in the tournament who have had even contributions from both batsmen and bowlers.

KXIP, on the other hand, are still struggling to live up to the reputation that they built in the 2014 edition of the IPL. They have been impacted by the lack of form for some of their star players from that season and also an injury or two.

Although Kings XI Punjab are on the verge of crashing out of the race for the playoffs, there may still be some hope for them if they win all their matches going forward. Mumbai Indians, meanwhile, will want to seal a playoff berth by winning their next two matches. As such, Friday's match is bound to be an interesting one for the teams as well as their fans.

Venue: Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ADA-VDCA Stadium, Vishakapatnam

Match date: 13 May 2016

Match timings: 20:00 IST, 14:30 GMT

If Mumbai Indians bat first

Predicted score: 160 and above

Even though the Mumbai batsmen had a poor outing the last time they played at Vishakapatnam, they will be confident about turning things around against Punjab. Skipper Rohit Sharma has been in sublime form for them and Ambati Rayudu has also performed quite well.

There have been decent contributions from the likes of Parthiv Patel and Jos Buttler too. Star player Kieron Pollard has started the season on a poor note but has recovered brilliantly to play some fiery match-winning knocks for his team so far. Young all-rounder Krunal Pandya has also been quite good with the bat.

Hardik Pandya, who had been a surprise performer for MI last year, has failed to live up to the expectations from him and has been in poor form with both bat and ball. He had been replaced by Nitish Rana in the previous game but the latter, too, did not impress in his first outing.

The pace bowlers have put on quite a show for the Mumbai team so far with Mitchell McCleanaghan leading the way. The Kiwi speedster has claimed 15 wickets already and is currently the Purple Cap holder. Jasprit Bumrah has also been highly impressive with 11 wickets so far in as many matches.

Harbhajan Singh has been quite decent with the ball, even though he has picked up just 7 wickets from 11 games. The older of the Pandya brothers, Krunal, has also done a good job with his left-arm spin with 4 wickets and an economy rate of just 7.

If Kings XI Punjab bat first

Predicted score: 150 and above

The Kings XI Punjab batting has depended heavily on their captain Murali Vijay to produce the goods. Vijay has already scored 318 runs this season at an average of just under 32 and 3 half-centuries against his name. Apart from him, only all-rounder Marcus Stoinis has shown some consistency with 146 runs from 5 innings.

Glenn Maxwell may have a couple of half-centuries in the tournament but his performance has been far from good. Wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha, too, has not played too well and averages a meagre 22.85 from 8 innings till now. Former skipper David Miller has been the worst of the lot with only 131 runs at an average of just over 16.

Premier batsman Shaun Marsh had been doing quite decently for KXIP in the 6 matches he played but was forced out of the IPL due to an injury. Hashim Amla, who has been roped in as his replacement, has struggled in his 2 innings thus far. All-rounder Axar Patel has scored some quick runs lower in the order.

The bowlers have comparatively performed better for the Kings in the 9th edition of the IPL. Pacers Sandeep Sharma and Mohit Sharma have stood out with 10 wickets each and economy rates of under 8. Patel has also impressed with 9 wickets in 10 matches and is the only bowler to have claimed a hat-trick in the 2016 IPL.

Among other bowlers, KC Cariappa has managed to catch the eye in the 3 games that he has played with 3 wickets and an economy of less than 7 per over. Punjab will be looking to make some changes to the team which suffered an agonising loss by 1 run to RCB in their previous game.

Probable Winners: Mumbai Indians