Rain threat looms large at the M Chinnaswamy yet again

The last week of the IPL coincides with the arrival of pre-monsoon showers in some parts of India. Due to that, the eliminator clash held in Bengaluru on Wednesday between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders was reduced to a 6-over affair in the second innings. The threat of rain playing spoilsport in the 2nd Qualifier between KKR and Mumbai Indians looms large as incessant showers are forecasted in Bengaluru for the early part of the evening.

This is devastating news for the cricket fans as this all-important game could be a rain-reduced encounter. Or worse, a washout, Mumbai Indians, by virtue of their higher position in the points table will progress into the finals which are scheduled to be played in Hyderabad on May 21. Though the M Chinnaswamy Stadium boasts of a SubAir drainage system and efficient ground staff to counter the heavy rains, the world class facility can only be put to work when it stops raining.

Mumbai favourites to clinch this knockout game

If the match goes ahead as per the schedule, Mumbai are hot favourites to progress into the finals. The table toppers should not have been in this situation in the first place as they played incredible cricket during the league stages. They floundered in the 1st Qualifier against neighbours Rising Pune Supergiant and lost the game by 20 runs. KKR will give them stern competition but an injury to Manish Pandey and the exodus of Chris Woakes, their premier bowler, has reduced them to a depleted side.

Mumbai Indians has a clean 2-0 record against KKR this season, winning both their home and away games earlier. The comeback of Coulter-Nile, who was sidelined due to a head injury, has helped them look a better side as the Australian restricted SRH to just 128 in the last game. He was named the Man of the Match for his 3/20 and was confident going into this do-or-die clash.

“We have to rest and recover as much as possible and get our plans sorted out for the match. We’ve played them twice already, so we know what they’re going to bring and what we need to do,” he said, after the victory over SRH.

Wicket much slower at Bengaluru

The wicket at Bengaluru has slowed down considerably and Coulter-Nile pointed out that they have an advantage since they know what to expect in this game as they have reassessed the situation in their side’s game on Wednesday.

“We know what the wicket is like, which is an advantage to us. I think they haven’t played here in a while,” he said.

Mumbai last played on this surface a month ago and will need to quickly adapt to this much slower surface.