IPL 9, Match 5 Preview: KKR start as favourites at home against the defending champions

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) played a perfect match to outclass the Delhi Daredevils (DD) in their opening encounter at Eden Gardens. Their opponents for today’s match, Mumbai Indians suffered a shock defeat at home against Rising Pune Supergiants and will look to bounce back. KKR have a very balanced side and an exceptional bowling unit that makes them firm favourites against the defending champions who have a few issues to sort out.

Kolkata Knight Riders:

KKR were brilliant in their opening fixture of the season. After dismissing the Delhi Daredevils for 98, they strolled to a 9-wicket win riding on the back of a 69-run stand between openers Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir. With plenty of spinners in their armoury, KKR have the resources to test any batting lineup in the competition. The West Indies mystery spinner Sunil Narine reached India last night and is unlikely to play today, however, Brad Hogg and Piyush Chawla proved in the previous game the kind of damage they can do.

Knight Riders have no reason to change the XI that stormed to victory against Daredevils. John Hastings, Andre Russell and Umesh Yadav bowled aggressively and will look to do the same today. Their batting wasn’t tested and might face its first major challenge against a more disciplined bowling unit of MI compared to that of DD. Kiwi Colin Munro didn’t get to bat in the previous match and will be desperate to make a mark early in the competition.

Mumbai Indians:

MI had a horrible start to the tournament. Playing in their backyard, the team slumped to 96 for 8 in the tournament opener against Rising Pune Supergiants before a Harbhajan Singh blitz helped them to a respectable 121 for 8. That turned out to be too few as the visitors cruised to a comprehensive 9-wicket win. Much more will be expected from a batting lineup that boasts the likes of skipper Rohit Sharma, Lendl Simmons, Jos Buttler and Kieron Pollard. It will be interesting to see if explosive all-rounder Corey Anderson gets and game and if he does, it is likely that Simmons will make way for him.

Parthiv Patel may get a game and open the batting. Vinay Kumar could be the one to miss out MI will want a longer batting line-up. Anderson bowls well with the new ball and his return will give more all-round options to Mumbai. Hardik Pandya was given a promotion in the batting order in the previous game, however, the move backfired. The right-hander is at his best in the latter half of an innings and MI would be well advised to send him to bat after the ball loses its shine.

Pitch and conditions:

Eden Gardens is likely to offer another spinner-friendly track to suit KKR’s attack. Dew is likely to come into play as the night wears on, so fielding first could be the best option. In the shortest format of the game it helps to know the target as the innings could be paced accordingly.

Probable XI:

Kolkata Knight Riders:

Robin Uthappa (wk), Gautam Gambhir (C), Manish Pandey, Colin Munro,  Suryakumar Yadav, Yusuf Pathan, Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, John Hastings, Brad Hogg, Umesh Yadav.

Mumbai Indians: 

Parthiv Patel, Rohit Sharma (capt), Lendl Simmons/Corey Anderson, Jos Buttler (wk), Ambati Rayudu, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Shreyas Gopal, Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah.

Stats:

1. MI have won 11 of their 16 previous matches against KKR though the latter has lost just once in their last 13 IPL games at Eden Gardens.

2. Rohit Sharma needs 104 runs to overtake Sachin Tendulkar as the leading run-scorer for MI. Sharma has 2495 runs from 91 innings.