Mumbai Indians look to bounce back against Kolkata Knight Riders on Match 34

(Cricket news) Mumbai Indians take on Kolkata Knight Riders in an attempt to get back to winning ways after their loss to CSK in the 1st game of phase 2. Kolkata Knight Riders had an amazing start in the phase 2 after a comfortable win against RCB. Eoin Morgan and co. will be looking to continue on the same path.

Mumbai Indians missed Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya in the last game. The pair is deemed fit and available for selection. Their replacements in the side Saurabh Tiwari and Anmolpreet Singh were two of MI's highest scorers in the last game. It'll be interesting to see if they are dropped after.

KKR on the other hand looked like a very balanced side in the first game. Venkatesh Iyer should keep his place in the side after his fine knock against RCB. The only other change could be Sakib Al Hasan coming in place of Sunil Narine to strengthen their batting and bring a little variation to their bowling line-up with a left arm spinner.

Also read: Rajasthan Royals pull off a great escape as Punjab Kings fail to score 8 runs in 2 overs

Head to Head: MI 22 – KKR 6, KKR have always struggled against MI, even during the time when KKR used to be unbeatable they would always struggle against MI.

Pitch & Weather Report: The Sheikh Zayed Stadium is mostly a batting friendly surface so it may assist the batsman again. The temperature is expected to be 34 degrees with 67% humidity and no chances of rain as of now. The hot and humid conditions might play a key role for the spinners.

Interesting facts:

Rohit Sharma is 18 runs away from becoming the first batsman to score 1000 runs against a team in IPL. He has won four Player of the Match awards in MI-KKR contests – the most by any player, followed by three each for Sachin Tendulkar and Hardik Pandya.
While MI haven't won their season opener since 2013, they have come storming back into form in their second match of a season in the five of the last six seasons – four of those wins coming against KKR.
Shubman Gill is set to play his 50th IPL game.
Andre Russell has faced more balls from Jasprit Bumrah than from any other bowler in the IPL, and the Mumbai talisman has come out of that head-to-head with a magnificent record: only 51 runs conceded in 40 balls, and three wickets.