Mumbai Indians, led by Rohit Sharma, have lost both their opening encounters in this season. Also, there are 10 team competing for play-offs this year so no team would like to leave much on the net run rate for qualifications. In both matches, Mumbai Indians batted well but evidently, their bowling appears to be their weakness this season.
On the other hand, the Kolkata Knight Riders, led by Shreyas Iyer, are looking a balanced side. The effect of adding players according to the needs of the team during the auction has been advantageous so far. After defeating Chennai by 6 wickets in the first match, Kolkata lost to Bangalore by 3 wickets. In the third match, KKR chased down the target of 138 runs in just 14.3 overs against Punjab Kings. Good news for them is that Andre Russell is back in form.
Both the head-to-head matches between Mumbai and Kolkata have been played 29 times so far, in which Mumbai have beaten Kolkata 22 times. Kolkata Knight Riders have won just seven matches against Mumbai Indians. Mumbai have scored highest score of 210 and the lowest of 108 in an innings against Kolkata.
Kolkata Knight Riders, on the other hand, have posted the highest score of 232 and a lowest of 67 in an innings against Mumbai Indians. Mumbai are expected to benefit from Suryakumar Yadav’s return. Anmolpreet Singh’s consistent failure in the first place is the main reason for Mumbai’s poor performance in the middle order.
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Another problem for Mumbai Indians is the poor form of Kieron Pollard. After the departure of Hardik and Krunal, MI depends heavily on Pollard but he played the sluggish inning of 22 off 24 balls against RR.
Apart from this, the availability of Jofra Archer to join the team next season is also blunting the edge of Mumbai’s bowling. Daniel Sam doesn’t seem to be filling the void after Trent Bolt’s departure. Fabian Allen could be part of the playing XI in place of Daniel Sam.
With the arrival of Tim Saudi as Umesh Yadav, Kolkata Knight Riders have become the most menacing powerplay bowling attack. However, KKR has issues in their batting line-up. Venkatesh Iyer’s poor form still persists. In such a situation, KKR may consider sending Iyer to the middle order like Team India.