IPL 10, Match 7, MI v KKR, Preview: Late bloomers Mumbai host mighty KKR at the fortress

The Mumbai Indians found it very tough playing against the Rising Pune Supergiant in their first encounter this season. Things only seem to be going tougher for them now as they going to be against the Kolkata Knight Riders. The Knight Riders made an absolute mockery of their opposition, the Gujarat Lions in their first encounter last night.

Having won the match by a comfortable margin of 10 wickets, one would back them to be the favorites against the Mumbai Indians. On the other hand, the hosts of the match, MI, will be playing their first home game of the season. The previous records suggest that they have had the best of times playing in front of the sea of blue at Mumbai.

However, they do not seem to be in a totally gelled up mode and there are a few hiccups that they need to address before the match. They have been the late bloomers of the IPL and have often lost their first few matches of the past two seasons. But can they afford to do that now? It remains to be seen.

Toss: Mumbai Indians won the toss and opted to field

Quotes from the toss:

Gautam Gambhir: “We would have bowled first as well. Obviously this is a good chasing ground and we would look to put up a good score on the board. We went spin heavy because of their combination and we wanted to go hard at Brendon and Roy. Just the one change for us, Ankit comes in place of Piyush. A hard call especially when he has done well for us but this is a tactical move.”

Rohit Sharma: “We are going to let KKR bat. The start wasn’t great but we’ve got guys in the squad who could pull things up when it gets tough. It was just a couple of errors I would say in the last game that cost us. Lasith Malinga is back replacing Tim Southee and Ambati misses out enabling Bhajju pa (Harbhajan) to come back in.”

Focus will be on

Rohit Sharma

Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma is bound to have all the eyes glued to him in the match. The stylish Indian opener has been out of action for quite some time due to an injury. He had a very quiet start to his IPL campaign and had to settle with a single digit score in the match against the Rising Pune Supergiant. Many expected him to open the innings but he rather chose to come in at number three. If he clicks at number three, Mumbai Indians will have stability in their favor.

Lasith Malinga

Malinga had missed the entire edition of the IPL last year and his absence had cost the team very much. He has been a perennial performer for the Mumbai franchise over the years. He recently came back to form and scalped a hat-trick against Bangladesh in the 2-match international T20 series back home. He was named as the player of the series for his heroics. Now, he has joined the Mumbai camp and is expected to be a key player for them.

Chris Lynn

Chris Lynn was not a very renowned name in the Indian Premier League circuit. Barring his one odd moment of success back in 2014 edition when he had taken a stunner at the boundary ropes. This season, he has lit up the tournament with his pyrotechnics against the Gujarat Lions at Rajkot. A blitzkrieg knock of 91 will now see him open the innings for the Knight Riders for quite some time now.

Team Combination – Mumbai Indians

The Mumbai Indians have been bolstered by the Sri Lankan duo Lasith Malinga and Asela Gunaratne. While Malinga has every reason to be drafted straight in the playing eleven, Asela Gunaratne might have to wait for a little longer for his turn in the tournament. The opening looks set for the Mumbai camp with Jos Buttler and Parthiv Patel looking good with the bat. Rohit Sharma at number 3 followed by Kieron Pollard is a good move to go along with. The Pandya brothers had performed decently in the previous game to see themselves safely assured of another go. Malinga might walk into the squad at the expense of Tim Southee in the line up. The other paceman will be Mitch McClenaghan, who had given an early breakthrough against RPS.

Team Combination – Kolkata Knight Riders

The Kolkata Knight Riders have absolutely no reason whatsoever to change their playing eleven. Had Chris Lynn not performed in the match, there were chances of Bangladeshi all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan making it to the side. However, now Chris Lynn and Gautam Gambhir look threatening in the top order. They have a very strong Indian contingent of batsmen to follow in next. Robin Uthappa, Manish Pandey, Suryakumar Yadav and Yusuf Pathan have been key members of the side for the last few editions and will continue to be in the lineup. In the bowling line up, they have quality spinners in Sunil Narine and Kuldeep Yadav who have been performing continuously well. The pace brigade boasts of two of the best overseas pacers in the tournament – Chris Woakes and Trent Boult.

Playing XI:

Mumbai Indians: Parthiv Patel(w), Jos Buttler, Rohit Sharma(c), Nitish Rana, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah

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

StatAttack

184 – Number of runs added by Gautam Gambhir and Chris Lynn against Gujarat Lions – the highest partnership for Kolkata Knight Riders.

191 – Krunal Pandya had the strike rate of 191 in IPL 2016 – the highest for any batsman in the tournament.

5.5 – Yusuf Pathan bowled with an economy of 5.5 last year – the best for any bowler for Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2016.