Kolkata Knight Riders will face Mumbai Indians at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Friday. Kolkata Knight Riders are currently at the fourth position in the league table with eight points in seven matches so far. They have faced a huge defeat against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the previous match. Now, they will be looking forward to getting back in winning track on Friday.
Mumbai Indians are currently at the second position in the league table with five wins in seven matches so far. They have beaten the current league leaders Delhi Capitals in the previous match. They have a chance to go to the top of the table with a win against Kolkata Knight Riders.
Pitch Report:
The toss is going to be an important factor in this season. Previously we have seen the captains choosing to chase the total in T20 matches. However, in this tournament, the team batting second is facing problems to chase down the total because of various factors. The pitches are getting slow in the second innings. Captains will surely assess the condition ahead of the match and choose batting or bowling first according to their team strength. Batting first teams are getting a slight advantage as the ball has started to turn a bit more and the ground sizes are big except Sharjah.
Head To Head Record:
Total Matches Played: 26
Kolkata Knight Riders Won: 6
Mumbai Indians Won: 20
Predicted Starting XI; Kolkata Knight Riders Vs Mumbai Indians:
Kolkata Knight Riders:
Rahul Tripathi, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik, Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Chris Green, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Prasiddh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy.
Mumbai Indians:
Quinton de Kock (WK), Rohit Sharma (C), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, James Pattinson.
Key Players:
Kolkata Knight Riders:
Andre Russell
Shubhman Gill
Mumbai Indians:
Rohit Sharma
Suryakumar Yadav
Captain And Vice-Captain Selection:
Captain Choices: Andre Russell, Rohit Sharma
Vice-Captain Choices: Shubhman Gill, Dinesh Karthik, Suryakumar Yadav, Krunal Pandya
Probable Winner: Mumbai Indians
KKR have the worst head to head record against Mumbai Indians. They have not been able to dominate this side much. So, there might be some mental block in the franchise ahead of facing Mumbai Indians. It will be very much interesting to see the stance of KKR regarding the situation of Sunil Narine. Sunil Narine has received a warning from the match referee after the match against Kings XI Punjab. With another warning, Sunil Narine will not be to bowl in this season again. Chris Green might take the place of Sunil Narine in this match. Tom Banton has not been able to show his form in the previous match at Sharjah and he might be dropped from starting XI.
On the other hand, Rohit Sharma has a brilliant track record against Kolkata Knight Riders. He will like to score a big run to get back into form in this match. The team is performing quite well and they will field an unchanged XI in this match.
