IPL 2018: Match 41, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians – Expectation vs Reality

The competition on Wednesday is bound to be fierce and intensely competitive with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and the Mumbai Indians (MI) locking horns. Both teams will be eyeing that precious slot in the IPL 2018 playoffs and hence, will be driven by the hunger to win the match to get themselves ahead in the race. The match will be held in the regal Eden Gardens, Kolkata.

MI and KKR are currently going neck to neck in the race to secure a playoff position. The point gap between the two teams is a mere 2 points and the next few encounters of both the teams will make or break. While the Rohit Sharma-led side will look to repeat their exemplary performance against the KKR from 3 days ago, KKR will try and shake off the defeat and come back stronger. Before the real action unfurls, here’s a sneak peek at what we’re expecting from the exciting encounter.

Dinesh Karthik to put on his scoring hat

How many times have we seen Dinesh Karthik flourish under pressure and deliver his best? With his team at a crucial juncture where they need to put their best foot forward in order to guarantee a playoff slot, Karthik can be expected to bear the batting responsibilities for his side and lead from the front. If he’s able to deliver on his mettle, KKR is going to be a tough side to beat in the IPL, no matter the opposition.

The KKR skipper scored an unbeaten 36 runs off just 26 deliveries in the last game against the Mumbai Indians. However, the spectacular innings came a little too late and found no support from the other batsmen as KKR fell short of victory by 13 runs. hence, Karthik may consider promoting himself up the order instead of sending in the relatively inexperienced Shubman Gill to face quality MI bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah.

The Pandya brothers to take their side home

Hardik Pandya-Krunal Pandya has emerged as the most sensational brother’s pack in recent times. Both the lanky lads are equally equipped with the willow as well as the ball and they can be expected to unleash their best performances thus far, given the importance of the clash. MI will also be upbeat considering they registered their 17th win against KKR in the history of the tournament in the last game at the Wankhede Stadium.

Hardik Pandya has done well in the tournament up till now, with 14 wickets and 169 runs to his name in 9 games. On the other hand, his elder brother 181 run and 9 wickets in 10 matches to his credit. The two have been seen playing well in tandem and can be expected to continue that streak in order to earn MI those all-important two points to keep them alive in the IPL trophy hunt.

Here’s the reality right after the match..

Ishan Kishan bamboozles KKR

Ishan Kishan changed the complexion of the game completely. He just smoked the ball all around the park and took the game away from the home side. His knock of 62 runs off 21 deliveries proved to be game-changing as Mumbai posted 210 runs after their 20 overs. Though they needed Ben Cutting’s heroics in the last couple of overs who also scored a quickfire 24 runs after facing only 9 balls. The bowlers were also poor as they kept on missing their lines and were completely out of ideas.

Hapless batsmen

The way KKR batted, it seemed that they had lost the game in their minds itself. No batsman showed courage to stay at the crease and take the game deep or they didn’t even try to play 20 overs in order to take care of their net run-rate. Rather every batsman just tried to hit maximums and was holed out. It was a clinical effort from the defending champions as they clung on their catches as well and climbed to the fourth position trumping KKR. They won the game by a huge margin of 102 runs and now KKR need to win all their remaining games.

Stay updated on ‘today’s cricket news‘ with CricTracker.com