(Cricket news) Mumbai Indians have always been slow starters to the league but this time they have played two matches and have been beaten quite convincingly. On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders are riding high after Andre Russell’s show against Punjab Kings and they look to stay at the top of the table.
Mumbai Indians have made it a bad habit by starting slowly before revving up as mid-season approaches and then pouncing on teams at the back end. They have continued the same trend this season having started poorly this time also, but the margin for error could be smaller in a 10-team pool. In both their losses so far, Mumbai have failed to capitalise on their batters giving them good starts, both the left-handers in Ishan Kishan and Tilak Verma have given this Mumbai side the much needed impetus at the top but it is the middle order which is not really performing. With Suryakumar Yadav fit, he will most likely replace Anmolpreet Singh in the playing XI. Another headache for Rohit Sharma would be whether to pick Basil Thampi or Jaydev Unadkat, but the only hitch is he's nearly like-for-like to Tymal Mills, in terms of his bowling but after last match and considering Dre Russ can take the bowlers out of the park, he just might get the nod ahead of Thampi.
Kolkata Knight Riders have destroyed their opposition with their pace attack and with Pat Cummins back, their pace attack looks even meaner. Brendon McCullum always emphasised on the fact of playing an aggressive brand of T20 cricket and they certainly showcased it against PBKS last match. One problem heading into the match would be KKR’s death-overs problem with Tim Southee, Russell, Venkatesh Iyer and Shivam Mavi leaking runs in the end but the introduction of Cummins will allow Shreyas Iyer to breathe a bit easier. KKR need to be wary of Bumrah’s threat, the West Indian all-rounder has been dismissed thrice in the last 61 deliveries by Bumrah and averages just 20.33. The KKR management would also expect a lot more from the likes of Venkatesh Iyer and Ajinkya Rahane as they are the key to utilising the power play to the fullest. The KKR management will have a good selection headache whether to drop Billings or Southee for Cummins, both these players have been really good with bat, ball and in the field.
Pitch and weather report: The Pune pitch has been very kind to the bowlers bowling in the second innings. In the previous two matches, bowlers have been able to defend their scores as in Pune dew doesn’t play a major part because of the less humidity but the trend of winning the toss and bowling first will continue. The temperature is going to hover around 29 degrees with no chance of rain.
Interesting facts:
- Mumbai's win percentage of 75.8% is the highest win percentage for a team against an opponent in all of the IPL.
- In 16 IPL games at the MCA, pacers have picked up 3.8 wickets per innings as compared to spinners 1.6 wickets
- MI have won 22 matches against KKR in the IPL, which is the most by a team against an opposition in the league
- Rohit Sharma needs 54 runs to reach 10,000 runs in T20 cricket.
- Sunil Narine needs five more wickets to become the first player to take 150 wickets for KKR in the IPL.
Also read: Dinesh Karthik stars in RCB's come from behind win over Royals
Probable XI for MI:
1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Ishan Kishan (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav/Anmolpreet Singh, 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Tim David, 7 Daniel Sams, 8 M Ashwin, 9 Tymal Mills, 10 Jaydev Unadkat/Basil Thampi, 11 Jasprit Bumrah
Probable XI for KKR:
1 Venkatesh Iyer, 2 Ajinkya Rahane, 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Sheldon Jackson, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Sunil Narine, 8 Tim Southee, 9 Pat Cummins, 10 Umesh Yadav, 11 Varun Chakravarthy
