IPL 10, Match 54, KKR v MI Preview: Mumbai Indians stand in Knight Riders' way in high intensity clash

The Kolkata Knight Riders camp were one of the first teams to nose towards confirming their playoffs berth this season. However, after having reached very close to the playoffs berth, they suffered a couple of defeats that sees him just about hanging on the fringes of qualification. Now, they have their last bid to have their destiny in their own hands.

KKR is all set to host the Mumbai Indians for their last league game of the season. A win for the Knight Riders will confirm the playoffs position for them. On the other hand, a win for the Mumbai Indians will see them consolidate their top spot in the points table. If MI manage to upset the Knight Riders, they will be guaranteed of the top spot in the points table. This will give them two cracks at the finals of the season.

Talking about the most recent form, Mumbai Indians have lost their last two games of the season and seem to have glued themselves to 18 points. On the other hand, the Knight Riders also suffered a defeat in their previous match of the season. The last time these two sides competed in the season, it was the MI camp that had the last laugh with a 4 wicket win over the Knight Riders.

Toss: KKR won the toss and elected to field first

Rohit Sharma: We would have bowled first as well. Looks a good track, need to bat well and restrict them during the chase. Quite a few changes, we have got five of them. Want to test the bench strength against a quality team like KKR.

Gautam Gambhir: We are looking to bowl, we have been chasing well. No point in changing the template. Just one change for us, Trent Boult comes in place for Chris Woakes – who has a niggle in his ankle.It’s important to stay in the present, we will try to play to our best of our ability and try to win, obviously, getting to the top-two is an incentive, but we are not thinking about it

Playing XI:

Kolkata Knight Riders: Sunil Narine, Chris Lynn, Gautam Gambhir(c), Robin Uthappa(w), Manish Pandey, Colin de Grandhomme, Yusuf Pathan, Umesh Yadav, Trent Boult, Kuldeep Yadav, Ankit Rajpoot

Mumbai Indians: Lendl Simmons, Rohit Sharma(c), Ambati Rayudu(w), Kieron Pollard, Saurabh Tiwary, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Karn Sharma, Vinay Kumar, Tim Southee, Mitchell Johnson

Focus will be on

Rohit Sharma

Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma has failed to be the consistent run-getter for the team. He has scored three fifties in the season but at the very same time has the dubious distinction of having 6 single digit scores as well. For a batsman of his caliber, those numbers are certainly not the ones to boast about. His weaknesses against the spin bowling has been evident and the oppositions have exploited his vulnerability to the fullest this season.

Gautam Gambhir

Kolkata Knight Riders skipper Gautam Gambhir will be a confused man at the moment. He needs to figure out a batting position for himself. While his demotion has the likes of Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine forming a formidable opening pair, Gambhir himself has been short on chances. As he reflected back after the previous game against the Kings XI Punjab, the team might consider having Gambhir in the opening slot again.

Team Combinations:

Kolkata Knight Riders

The Knight Riders will be in a happy spot at the moment. However, the nervousness of the playoffs will create a bit of anxiety in the game. Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn have been a powerful opening duo. Having said that, it is important to note that the skipper Gautam Gambhir had revealed that the team might want to change the opening combination with Gambhir being back at the top order.

If that happens, it would be interesting to see where Sunil Narine fits in the batting order. Robin Uthappa is back on the roster and that will bolster the KKR camp in the must-win encounter. Nathan Coulter-Nile is also expected to be fit for the clash and that will beef up the bowling department for them. Kuldeep Yadav is likely to be the spinner playing the game ahead of Sunil Narine.

Mumbai Indians

The Mumbai Indians will not be too bothered with their two successive defeats this season. Also, they would feel it was much needed due to the reason that it would help them to not be very complacent about their chances in the playoffs. They have qualified for the playoffs and hence they have a couple of matches at hands where they can try and experiment a few things to see how things fare up for them.

Lendl Simmons and Parthiv Patel have been phenomenal with the bat in the top order. Nitish Rana and Rohit Sharma are due for runs in the last couple of games. Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya have very well established themselves as the finishers for the MI camp. The bowling department had a rare failure in the previous game but would want to cover up for the lackluster game.

StatAttack

1 – Number of bowlers to have taken more than 150 wickets in IPL history – Lasith Malinga.

2 – Number of fifties scored by Rohit Sharma in a losing cause this season.

19 – Number of times the two sides have faced off each other in IPL history. KKR have won only on 5 occasions and MI have won 14 times.

67 – Number of runs needed by Gautam Gambhir to complete 500 runs this season.