IPL 2021, KKR vs MI Match Preview: After a Shaky Start Mumbai Need to be Wary of Confident Kolkata

Mumbai Indians do not start well – that is well documented. Their two-wicket loss to the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the tournament opener in Chennai was the ninth consecutive defeat for the five-time champions in their first match of a season – dating back to 2013. The two-time defending champions would not want to make it two losses in a row and have their task cut out as they face a confident Kolkata Knight Riders in Chennai on Tuesday. KKR beat the Sunrisers in a morale-boosting start to their season at the very same venue they will face their arch-rivals come the 13th of April.

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Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians lost their way during the death overs batting first against RCB in Chennai. From 135 for 3 in the 16th over, with Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan at the crease and Kieron Pollard waiting in the wings, the defending champions could only muster 24 runs in the last 4 overs losing a flurry of wickets at the death. It was a minor setback for the team – one they would not worry too much about given the X-factor and the finishes provided to them by Hardik Pandya and Pollard in the past.

The batting of Chris Lynn at the top of the order was a revelation for the Mumbai Indians. A destructive Lynn allows Rohit to settle in and play the big match-winning knock for his franchise. It will be interesting to see whether the Australian will be replaced by the Mr Consistent for Mumbai Indians – Quinton de Kock – who would be available for selection after undergoing the mandatory seven-day quarantine.

Rahul Chahar was a touch expensive in the season opener and may give way to the experienced Piyush Chawla on a spinner friendly Chepauk wicket. South African left-arm fast, Marco Jensen was impressive against RCB and will hold on to his place in the XI.

Kolkata Knight Riders

KKR are expected to go with the same winning combination they fielded against the Sunrisers in Chennai. The match-winning performance and partnership between the two Indian top-order batsmen – NItish Rana and Rahul Tripathi was the biggest takeaway for the two-time champions on Sunday.

Still early days but KKR would want to see the Andre Russell of 2019 back to the fold – he holds the key to their success in the lower-order along with Eoin Morgan and Dinesh Karthik. A destructive Russell single-handedly raises the stakes of KKR exponentially. It is important that he gets some runs in the second encounter to boost his confidence and get him out of rut after a disastrous 2020. There might be a case for Morgan to push himself at number 4 and bat Russell at 5.

It would also be interesting to see how skipper Morgan uses Harbhajan Singh against Mumbai Indians. The off spinner bowled a good first over against the Sunrisers but was not used thereafter. He could be a great option against left-handers like De Kock and Ishan Kishan in the top-order.

IPL 2021: Rahul Tripathi – Can The Cameo-Man Repeat What He Did For Pune In 2017?

WHEN: 13th April, 7:30 PM IST

WHERE: Chennai, India

TELECAST: StarSports

LIVE STREAMING: Hotstar

MI Team News

Chris Lynn could find himself losing the opening position to De Kock in spite of a fine show against RCB. Piyush Chawla might come in for Rahul Chahar.

Possible Playing XI: 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Quinton de Kock, 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Ishan Kishan, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Marco Jensen, 9 Piyush Chawla, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Jasprit Bumrah

KKR Team News

KKR is expected to field in the same XI that beat the Sunrisers in Chennai.

Possible Playing XI: 1 Nitish Rana, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Rahul Tripathi, 4 Eoin Morgan, 5 Andre Russell, 6 Dinesh Karthik, 7 Shakib Al Hasan, 8 Pat Cummins, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Varun Chakravarthy, 11 Prasidh Krishna

Recent Head-to-Head: (Last 5 matches)

MI have dominated the recent rivalry and lead 4-1 in the last 5 encounters against KKR.

To watch out for

Kieron Pollard looked a little rusty and out of touch in the season opener against RCB. He could just manage 7 off 9 deliveries and would be raring to make a difference in the big match against KKR. Pollard had the highest strike rate in IPL 2020.

Quotes:

MI: I thought we were 20 runs short with the kind of start we got. We made some mistakes in the first game, bound to happen: MI captain, Rohit Sharma after the loss to RCB

KKR: We are delighted. I thought it was magnificent, the guys batted today at the top of the order in particular, Nitish and Tripathi: KKR skipper, Eoin Morgan in praise of Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi after their match-defining performances against the Sunrisers

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• Andre Russell
• eoin morgan
• ipl
• IPL 2021
• jasprit bumrah
• kieron pollard
• KKR
• kolkata knight riders
• MI
• Mumbai Indians
• rohit sharma