IPL 2020 Match- 5 Preview: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians
The Indian Premier League in its first Sunday have already witnessed the super over with Delhi Capitals coming out victorious over the Kings XI Punjab in the second game of the campaign. But as we progress forward one of the stronger team on paper Kolkata Knight Riders will start their campaign last in this year’s IPL, playing their first match against Mumbai Indians.
It will be a very interesting matchup as Mumbai will look to bounce back after losing their opening fixture to Chennai. The Knights will be eager to start positively.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Most players in this team, especially foreigners have played a decent amount of cricket in the last few months. With Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Chris Green and Ali Khan playing in the Caribbean Premier League while Pat Cummins Eoin Morgan and Tom Banton featured in the recently concluded England- Australia ODI T20 and ODI series.
Dinesh Karthik who will captain the side needs to keep the spirits high of the players more so after last season’s fiasco. There will be eyes on young Indian talents like Shubman Gill, Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shivam Mavi while players like Nitish Rana and Varun Chakravarthy will also have a lot to prove. It can be a career-defining tournament for Kuldeep Yadav if he performs well.
Expected Lineup: Sunil Narine, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Varun Chakravarthy, Sandeep Warrier, Kuldeep Yadav.
Mumbai Indians
The reigning champions started their campaign pretty well with Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma giving them a good start in the powerplay. However their middle order failed to build on it. The likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Pandya Brothers and even Kieron Pollard failed to deliver. It was Saurabh Tiwary who batted well in the middle.
With the ball also Mumbai started strongly but then lost their way. Jasprit Bumrah who is considered as one of the best bowlers currently had a very bad outing and the others also had more or less same story as CSK chased the score down with ease. It was interesting how Rohit Sharma never gave the ball to Hardik Pandya who is known to break partnerships. Hardik has had big back surgery and it is an area of concern for the reigning champions as it disrupts their overall balance in the squad.
It will be interesting to see how Mumbai comes back after an early setback.
Expected Lineup: Quinton de Kock, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, James Pattinson, Trent Boult, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah.
Match prediction
Mumbai Indians win
Odds (Decimal)
KKR – 2.06
MI – 1.84
Date and Time
23rd September 7:30 PM IST
Venue
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
(Odds might change without prior notice)
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