IPL Preview News

RCB began their campaign without skipper and star batsman Virat Kohli as well as another key player A B de Villiers due to injuries and lost their opening match against defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Both teams had contrasting results in their opening games with Mumbai Indians losing to Rising Pune Supergiant by seven wickets while KKR thrashing Gujarat Lions by 10 wickets.

The Lions were demolished by the KKR opening pair of Chris Lynn and Gautam Gambhir during their 184-run opening stand in their opening tie at Rajkot on Friday.

A depleted Bangalore is struggling without captain Virat Kohli, ruled out because of a shoulder injury, and AB de Villiers, who also missed the first tie due to a back problem.

Steven Smith, who has replaced Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the Pune captain, began the season in style by smashing an unbeaten 84 yesterday to seal a seven wicket win for his team in its IPL opener against Mumbai Indians.

And come April, both the players will be in India, turning up for their respective IPL franchises in the world's premier cricket league.

Faced with a do-or-die situation, the inconsistent Delhi Daredevils will take on table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad in their penultimate Indian Premier League match here on Friday.

Mumbai Indians host Kings XI Punjab in Match 43 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016 today at Visakhapatnam.

Both teams are positioned midway in the points table with 10 points each, having won five matches out of 8 and 9 respectively.

With one win and two defeats, both the teams have identical two points each.

Aaron Finch, who has hit three fifties in three matches, will once again be the batting mainstay for the Lions.

Lions are sitting at the top of the table with successive wins over KXIP and RPS.