An encounter of two heavyweights is on the cards as two-time title winners Kolkata Knight Riders and five-time champions Mumbai Indians are ready to battle each other in match no. 56 of the Indian Premier League Season 15. MI’s captain Rohit Sharma will be on a mission to complete a hat-trick of wins when they face the traditional rivals at Navi Mumbai’s Dr DY Patil Sports Academy on Monday.
The poster boy of Mumbai cricket, Rohit Sharma will be summoned by another Mumbaikar Shreyas Iyer who is leading the Knight Riders from the historic land of Bengal. The 27-year-old KKR skipper took over the captaincy responsibilities of the Purple Knights in his very first season at the Bengal-based franchise. The BCCI higher authorities have an eye on his leadership performance of him due to his future candidature to replace Rohit as a captain of the India National Team.
In the previous fixture, explosive batting all-rounder Tim David bagged the maiden Player of the Match award of his IPL career in his just fifth appearance. After making a comeback in the Mumbai line-up, David is looking in top form after scoring two back-to-back winning contributions for the Maharashtrian outfit. Murugan Ashwin also made his comeback after being excluded from the playing eleven since 16th April and trapped both Gujarat openers to register 2/29 figures.
Jasprit Bumrah’s wicketless performance of 0/48 in 4 overs were the most expensive figures from MI against the Titans. It’s been a while since vice-captain Kieron Pollard has delivered a performance with the bat according to his standards although has made a few bowling cameos here and there.
What have they done so far?
The Maharashtra-based franchise is in a nothing to lose situation as their chances of advancing to the playoff stages are over. They registered an emphatic win over the table-toppers Gujarat Titans which will surely boost their confidence for the rest of the campaign. The opening duo of Rohit-Kishan is finally back in the form and the bowling department also delivered yet another good performance, especially Daniel Sams who defended 9 runs in the final over of the game.
On the other hand, the game of survival is going on in the camp of KKR as they could be the next ones to join MI and CSK among eliminated teams. Kolkata needs to win the maximum number of matches from the remaining fixtures as even a single defeat can throw them out of the playoffs qualification race.
Head to Head record
The two captains who were up against each other in the Grand Finale of the IPL 2020 edition
It is considered one of the oldest and most fierce rivalries in IPL history and is thoroughly dominated by the Mumbai franchise on a head-to-head outcome of 22-8 in their favour. MI commenced the rivalry by winning the first nine encounters as the first win of KKR against the Maharashtrian outfit came long back in 2012. Then Mumbai went on a winning streak of 8 matches between the 2015 and 2018 timeline.
The most recent chapter of the rivalry was staged earlier this season when Kolkata thrashed Mumbai in a one-sided saga. MI put a competitive total of 161 on the board with help of Suryakumar Yadav’s half-century and late bashing of Tilak Varma and Kieron Pollard but the bowling unit couldn’t save it as the counterparts chased it down in the 16th over itself.
The Australian test team captain Pat Cummins had an unforgettable game that day where he picked two wickets in the first innings and then went on to smash the joint-fastest IPL fifty to end the game on unbelievable batting figures of 56*(15).
Key Players
Is the redemption of Daniel Sams on the cards?
Daniel Sams: The circumstances were quiet when Mumbai faced KKR last time around as the Australian was thrown out on the bench as a consequence of that encounter. Sams got hit by his national skipper Pat Cummins for 35 runs in an over which is the third most expensive over in the history of IPL cricket as he ended up with figures of 1/50 in three overs.
Although the 24-year-old all-rounder has turned the tables by making a grand comeback in MI playing eleven and also defended 9 runs against in-form finishers of Gujarat Titans in the previous game.
Sunil Narine: The Trinidadian veteran is widely regarded as one of the greatest ever bowlers to grace T20 cricket. The Caribbean living legend always turns up big with the ball for Purple Knights whenever they battle the arch-rivals although the spin wizard who is now considered as an all-rounder is yet to showcase his batting capabilities against the Blue forces.
Narine loves hunting the Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma and has got his wicket a whopping seven times in 19 meetings.
Predicted Playing XI
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Kieron Pollard, Daniel Sams, Murugan Ashwin, Kumar Kartikeya, Jasprit Bumrah, Riley Meredith
Kolkata Knight Riders: Aaron Finch, Sunil Narine, Shreyas Iyer (c), Baba Indrajith (wk), Nitish Rana, Anukul Roy, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Shivam Mavi
Prediction
A battle between the most prominent western and eastern parts of India which is in control of the Blue Razors throughout the years. Although the circumstances have been changed as the Bengal-based franchise is now eyeing to sustain its two-game winning streak over the arch-rivals.
It’s hard to predict the results but Mumbai Indians may have a slight edge over their counterparts due to their current form and freedom from the pressure of not having heed of the outcome.