OVERVIEW:
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS: The Knight Riders have started their campaign on a brilliant note and they sit 2nd in the points table handsomely. They defeated both the kings (Chennai and Punjab) convincingly and gave a real challenge for the Royal Challengers while defending a modest total. Their batting unit is due for a good collective performance where Russell won them their last game from a tricky position. But they’ll be delighted to see the comeback of Umesh Yadav, the current purple cap holder after two ordinary seasons. A win in this game will cement their place in the top 4 at least for another week but beating Mumbai Indians has always been a monumental task for them as the head-to-head record is heavily dominated by Mumbai (7 – 22).
MUMBAI INDIANS: For Mumbai though it’s the same old story continuing, having lost both their games, they will be desperate to open their account. Generally, we’d be expecting a dramatic comeback from this franchise, but this season it's quite difficult for them to do it considering their slightly weaker bowling unit. In the two games, it's their bowling which has let them down. Ishan Kishan is second in the orange cap list, and is certainly justifying his richest player in the auction tag. The young lad Tilak Varma is looking promising and Bumrah is as consistent as always but their experienced pros (Rohit & Pollard) should come to the party to lit up their campaign. Their extremely positive record against the Knight Riders might give them some confidence.
PROBABLE PLAYING XI:
KNIGHT RIDERS: Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Sheldon Jackson (wk), Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy. CHANGES: Cummins has completed his quarantine, so he’ll replace Shivam Mavi and to balance the overseas combination, Sam Billings should sit out and Sheldon Jackson will get to do the glove work.
MUMBAI INDIANS: Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Kieron Pollard, Tim David, Daniel Sams, Murugan Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Tymal Mills, Jaydev Unadkat. CHANGES: As Suryakumar is available, he'll be in as a straight swap for Anmolpreet Singh. Basil Thampi might be replaced by Jaydev Unadkat as he was taken for plenty in his previous outing.
PITCH/WEATHER REPORT:
In IPL 2022 (including all the venues), the teams batting first have won 5 out of 13 games. But in the last 5 games, it's 4 out of 5. Therefore, the trend of bowling first and hence winning is certainly changing. In this ground, the teams batting first have won on both occasions (RR & GT).
As far as the weather is concerned, there is no chance of rain. While comparing with the other three venues, the amount of dew here is considerably less. So, the toss won’t be a match defining factor.
FACTS & MILESTONES:
- We think about how MI is so dominant against CSK, but they are unimaginably dominant against KKR. They’ve won 22 out of the 29 encounters which is the most by any side against a particular team. Their win percentage against KKR is of 75.86% which is another record.
- Narine is 34 runs away from reaching the 1000 run mark in IPL.
- Daniel Sams has a bowling average of 242.00 which is the worst for any bowler in the competition.
- Rohit Sharma (against KKR) has scored the most runs (1015) by a batter against a single opposition in IPL and he is the only player to cross the 1000 run mark against a particular side.
DREAM11 TEAM:
