IPL 2021: KKR vs MI: Match 5, Match Prediction – Who will win today’s match?

Preview

Mumbai Indians (C), the five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions, didn’t make a great start to the 2021 edition of the T20 tournament. Rohit Sharma and Co lost to the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by two wickets at the Chepauk.

But going into their second game against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Tuesday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, the odds are favouring Mumbai. On the head-to-head count, MI are leading the Knights by 21-6. Moreover, in their last 12 meetings, the Mumbai-based unit has come out trumps as many as 11 times.

Though Eoin Morgan and Co don’t have numbers in their favour, they can take heart from the fact that they won their opening match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 10 runs. They will be looking to defy the odds.

Match Details

Match – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians – 5th match

Venue – MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

Time – 7:30 PM IST, 02:00 PM GMT

Where to watch live – Star Sports Network, Hotstar

Pitch Report

The pitch at the Chepauk has been a sporting one until now. But in the first two games, chasing looked a tad arduous. Scores over the 165-mark region may not be easy to track down. Batting first should be the way forward. The conditions will mostly be clear with the temperature around the 32 degrees Celsius mark. Clouds will be there, but with no chances of a downpour.

Avg first innings score: 151 (Last 10 IPL T20s at the Chepauk)

Record of chasing teams: Won – 5, Lost – 5, Tied – 0

Probable Playing XIs:

Kolkata Knight Riders

Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Shakib Al Hasan, Pat Cummins, Harbhajan Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy

Bench: Bench: Karun Nair, Gurkeerat Mann Singh, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Ben Cutting, Pawan Negi, Shivam Mavi, Sheldon Jackson, Tim Seifert, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Vaibhav Arora, Sandeep Warrier

Mumbai Indians

Rohit Sharma (c), Chris Lynn, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Marco Jansen, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah

Bench: Anmolpreet Singh, Saurabh Tiwary, Anukul Roy, James Neesham, Arjun Tendulkar, Piyush Chawla, Nathan Coulter Nile, Aditya Tare, Jayant Yadav, Yudhvir Singh, Adam Milne, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mohsin Khan, Quinton de Kock

Head-to-Head

Overall

Played – 27 | Kolkata Knight Riders– 6 | Mumbai Indians – 21 |N/R – 0

At neutral venues

Played – 8 | Kolkata Knight Riders – 2 | Mumbai Indians – 6 |N/R – 0

Probable best batsman of the match

Rohit Sharma- Mumbai Indians

Rohit Sharma has incredible numbers against the Knight Riders and is only 61 runs short of the 1000-run mark. In 27 games, the Nagpur-born has notched 939 runs at an average and strike rate of 46.95 and 133 respectively. With six half-centuries and one ton with a top score of an unbeaten 109, Rohit has turned out to be a massive headache for the Knights.

Probable best bowler of the match

Jasprit Bumrah– Mumbai Indians

Jasprit Bumrah was sharp in the first game against the Challengers and he’s in a pretty good rhythm. Against the Knights, he has performed as well. In 44 overs he has bowled versus KKR, the speedster has picked up 12 wickets. Bumrah has an economy rate of 8.02, but that’s understandable as he mostly bowls in the powerplay and in the death overs.

Today’s match prediction: Mumbai to win the match.

Scenario 1

Toss: Kolkata win the toss and bat

Powerplay score – 40-45

First innings score – 140-160

Result – Mumbai win the match

Scenario 2

Toss – Mumbai win the toss and bat

Powerplay score – 50-55

First innings score – 165-185

Result – Mumbai win the match

Disclaimer: This prediction is based on the understanding, analysis, and instinct of the author. While making your prediction, consider the points mentioned, and make your own decision.