Mumbai Indians (MI) will take on the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on April 13. This will be the second match of the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) season for both sides.
While Eoin Morgan-led Knight Riders clinched a 10-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in their opening match, Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians lost by two wickets (on the final ball) to Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Defending champions MI are known to make slow starts in the IPL. They have not won their opening game since 2013. But they would be hoping to pick up the winning momentum earlier and not get stuck in a precarious position in the second half of the league stage.
On the other hand, this is the first full season Kolkata are playing under Morgan’s captaincy. The former champions had missed out on a Playoffs qualification on the net run rate in the 2020 edition. The side would not only be hoping to keep up the momentum, but also look to turn the tables against Mumbai. In the 27 head-to-head matches the two teams have faced, Mumbai have won 21. KKR won the remaining six. That is a significant difference in a highly competitive tournament like the IPL. MI have actually won nine out of their last 10 matches against KKR.
Be it the aggression shown by the top-order or the explosive finish by Dinesh Karthik, KKR displayed a fearless approach under skipper Morgan. Morgan's intent was evident right at the toss when he chose to leave out their most-trusted lieutenant, Sunil Narine.
The left-right opening combination of Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill started to attack right from the first ball, clearly indicating that the new approach had Morgan's success mantra written all over it. Boasting of a solid middle-order in Andre Russell, Karthik and Morgan, 2020 was a season of promise for KKR but some rudderless planning did not help their cause.
This time KKR have further bolstered their middle-order by adding Bangladesh superstar Shakib Al Hasan, while Morgan, in his full season as skipper, gives a new dimension to the side.
Rana's deft wrist work and brute power were on full display on Sunday and it ensured that they stayed ahead despite Rashid Khan's twin blows in the form of Gill and Russell.
But eventually it will all boil down to battle of wits between Morgan and Rohit Sharma, under whose captaincy MI has won a record fifth IPL title last season in the UAE.
MI will pose real challenge for KKR as the title holders would be desperate to secure their first win of the season after their two-wicket loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL opener on April 9.
KRR found it easy against SRH bowlers, which lacked firepower but in Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult, MI attack will be a completely different proposition. Gill's struggle to bat at T20 pace has been a concern for KKR and it will be interesting to see the young opener's approach against the finest in the business.
Often known as slow starters, MI lost the other day due to the individual brilliance of RCB's Harshal Patel and AB de Villiers on a two-paced wicket here. In his debut match for MI, Chris Lynn was their top-scorer, albeit with some stroke of luck as he survived some edges and mishits.
If Quinton de Kock is still in quarantine, MI may have to persist with Lynn at the top; otherwise they may go back to their preferred left-right opening combination of Rohit and de Kock. MI's explosive middle-order consisting Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan and the Pandya brothers -- Hardik and Krunal -- also failed to fire to be restricted to 159 for nine.
Teams
KKR squad: Eoin Morgan (Captain), Andre Russell, Ben Cutting, Dinesh Karthik, Harbhajan Singh, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Karun Nair, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Pat Cummins, Pawan Negi, Prasidh Krishna, Rahul Tripathi, Rinku Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Shakib Al Hasan, Sheldon Jackson, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Tim Seifert, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravathi and Venkatesh Iyer.
MI squad: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Adam Milne, Aditya Tare, Anmolpreet Singh, Anukul Roy, Arjun Tendulkar, Chris Lynn, Dhawal Kulkarni, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, James Neesham, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Marco Jansen, Mohsin Khan, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, Quinton de Kock, Rahul Chahar, Saurabh Tiwary, Suryakumar Yadav, Trent Boult and Yudhvir Singh Charak.
The match starts at 7.30 pm IST.
(With inputs from PTI)
Follow Moneycontrol’s full coverage of IPL 2021 here