Indian Premier League 2019 Match 47, Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians: Preview, likely XIs, predictions

After 4 wins in 5 matches, Kolkata Knight Riders were at the top of the IPL 2019 points table at one point. Six consecutive defeats later, they are on the verge of elimination. And now they are up against Mumbai Indians, whose performance in the tournament has been the exact opposite, and against whom they have a pathetic head-to-head record.

Mumbai had – as has often been the case – lost their first 3 matches before bouncing back to win 7 of their next 8. They are also the only team to have beaten table toppers Chennai Super Kings twice twice in this edition.

The well-oiled Mumbai machinery is, as always, at peak performance at the business end of the tournament. They need one win, preferably two, to qualify, from three matches; and quality openers, an explosive middle-order, two outstanding fast bowlers, and a young spinner, are on track.

Kolkata, on the other hand, have too many faults to repair. They need to win everything and even then wait for others. And while Andre Russell has been the superstar of the tournament and Nitish Rana has been excellent, no one else has been consistent. They need something special from some corner to pull this one off.

Head to head

To put things simply, Mumbai has been Kolkata’s nightmare. Their win-loss ratio of 0.278 against Mumbai is their worst against any franchise. Even in 2018, when Kolkata finished third and Mumbai did not even make it to the Playoffs, Mumbai thrashed Kolkata in both encounters.

Suryakumar Yadav (59 in 39), Evin Lewis (43 in 28), and Hardik Pandya (35* in 20) had taken Mumbai to 181/4 at Wankhede despite Sunil Narine‘s 4-0-35-2. Robin Uthappa’s 35-ball 54 was the only innings of note as KKR were restricted to 168/6 by Hardik (4-0-19-2) and co.

Mumbai then piled up 210/6 at Eden Gardens – an innings that consisted of 14 sixes. Ishan Kishan (62 in 21) hit 6 of these. Then the Pandya brothers (Krunal, 3.1-0-12-2 and Hardik, 3-0-16-2), Jasprit Bumrah (3-0-17-1), and Mayank Markande (4-0-26-1) bowled out Kolkata for 108.

Key players

Sunil Narine (Kolkata Knight Riders): If not Narine, then who? He might have taken only 8 wickets in 9 matches, but despite not being at his best, he has gone for only 7.45 an over. And his strike rate of 166 has been next to only Russell’s 209. If Kolkata need to win, and indeed, qualify, Narine has to play a key role.

Hardik Pandya (Mumbai Indians): There is little doubt that Hardik has been the most successful of the three Mumbai all-rounders. Not only has he struck at 182, his 264 runs are behind only the openers, Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock. And while he has gone for runs, only Jasprit Bumrah and Malinga have more wickets for Mumbai this time.

Likely XIs

Kolkata Knight Riders: Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Piyush Chawla, Prithvi Raj, Prasidh Krishna.

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Evin Lewis, Suryakumar Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Anukul Roy, Rahul Chahar, Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah.

Prediction

Mumbai to defeat and knock Kolkata out of Playoffs contention.