Looking, at last, like a team wanting to defend its title, Mumbai Indians’ road to redemption in the Indian Premier League faces another tricky test, as they host a formidable Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium.
The defending champions seemed resurgent after a tense win over Kings XI Punjab, though their play-off hopes were still hanging by a thread, thanks to a spate of reverses over the past few weeks.
The 21-ball 56-run blitzkrieg between Krunal Pandya and Rohit Sharma in Indore is history and Mumbai will next need to tame Kolkata, who have a reputation of being fierce opponents, at the Wankhade Stadium.
Mumbai under-performing batsmen finally clicked last night against Kings XI and will look to replicate their performance against another top of the table outfit.
Mumbai jumped to the fifth spot having won three of their nine games while KKR are sitting comfortable in the third position. The hosts have to win all their remaining five games to make it to the play-offs.
For Mumbai Indians, Suryakumar Yadav (340 runs) has been in great form and has scored runs consistently.
But his opening partner, Evin Lewis, has been a disappointment and the home team will need to relook at its opening pair, especially after the West Indian’s flop show at the Holkar International Stadium.
Jasprit Bumrah, Cutting and young leggie Mayank Markande (12 wickets) need to play their part to perfection if Kolkata’s strong batting line-up is to be restricted. Krunal, too, needs to chip in with the ball along with Hardik.
Significantly, Mumbai have won only one of their four home games, against Royal Challengers Bangalore, this season.
Kolkata boast of three quality spinners – Narine (10 wickets), Piyush Chawla (8 wickets) and Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav (8 wickets). And if Nitish Rana, who was suffering from a back spasm, is back, it will add more variety to their attack.
Kolkata pacers Tom Curran, veteran Mitchell Johnson and rookie Shivam Mavi need to step up and deliver.
Squads:
Kolkata Knight Riders: Dinesh Karthik (captain), Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Kuldeep Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Shivam Mavi, Mitchell Johnson, Shubman Gill, R Vinay Kumar, Rinku Singh, Cameron Delport, Javon Searless, Apoorv Wankhade, Ishank Jaggi, Tom Curran.
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (captain), Suryakumar Yadav, Evin Lewis, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Mayank Markande, Mitchell McLenaghan, Mustafizur Rahaman, Jasprit Bumrah, Akila Dananjaya, Ben Cutting, JP Duminy, Rahul Chahar, Sharad Lumba, Adam Milne, Siddhesh Lad, Md Nidheesh, Mohsin Khan, Anukul Roy, Pradeep Sangwan, Tajinder Singh, Aditya Tare, Saurabh Tiwary.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!