In Match 51 of the 2024 Indian Premier League season, the Shreyas Iyer-led Kolkata Knight Riders will face off against the five-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.
MI, with 6 points in 10 games, is positioned 9th in the points table. The Hardik Pandya-led side is on the verge of elimination from the playoff race after a forgettable season thus far as they failed to find a settled combination courtesy of constant chopping and changing.
KKR is positioned 2nd in the points table with 12 points in 9 games. As evidenced by the four 220+ totals they have scored so far in the IPL 2024, the Knight Riders’ batting has been their biggest strength.
What has happened so far?
Despite winning four of their first five games of the season, the Knight Riders lost two of their last four games by narrow margins. Their bowlers did a fantastic job in their most recent match against the Delhi Capitals, restricting the Capitals to 153 runs.
In response, KKR’s opening batters once again put the team on the board quickly, and Philip Salt’s outstanding innings of 68 runs off 33 balls led the team to victory by 7 wickets.
MI, on the other hand, began the season with three straight losses before winning two straight games. However, after winning just one of their previous five games, the momentum faded away.
In their most recent game against Lucknow Super Giants, the Super Giants’ bowlers performed superbly restricting MI to an achievable target of 145 runs. Following a dismal performance by the batters, MI’s bowlers fought till the end, but the Lucknow-based franchise won by four wickets and grabbed two crucial points.
Head to Head Record
Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders have competed in 32 IPL matches with MI winning 23 of these 32 games, while KKR has managed to win only 9 of the fixtures.
On home ground, MI has absolutely annihilated KKR as they have won eight out of their nine encounters in Mumbai while the Knight Riders have been able to win only one of those encounters.
Key Players
Philip Salt (Kolkata Knight Riders): Philip Salt is the leading run scorer for the Knight Riders thus far and ranked sixth among the IPL 2024 top scorers with 392 runs at a staggering strike rate of 180.65.
Salt has four 50s this season and helped the team get off to a solid start by dominating the powerplay. He is receiving excellent support from his opening partner, Sunil Narine, who has been playing flawlessly, scoring 372 runs at a remarkable strike rate of 182.35 and the opening duo would once again be looking forward to taking on the MI bowling attack.
Tilak Varma (Mumbai Indians): For Mumbai Indians, Tilak Varma has been consistent, amassing 343 runs in nine innings at an amazing strike rate of 153.81. Varma has been the leading run-scorer of the side scoring three half-centuries so far in the ongoing season of the cash-rich league.
In the MI batting lineup, the young left-handed batsman has been a rock, frequently producing big runs under pressure. The Mumbai-based franchise will be looking to get off to a strong start from the openers in their next games so that middle-order batters like Tilak Varma can build on that base.
Team News from Both Camps
Following his recovery from the finger injury he suffered in the match against RCB, Mitchell Starc returned to the team and played the game against DC. Given that the Australian pacer’s season hasn’t started off well, the team will be worried about his form.
In addition, Harshit Rana was suspended for one match and fined 100% of the match fee for violating the IPL Code of Conduct during the match against the Capitals.
Speaking of MI, Gerald Coetzee returned to the team and played the game against LSG after suffering a stomach problem before the game against DC. Aside from that, MI does not have any injury concerns at the moment.
Predicted XIs
Mumbai Indians: Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya ©, Nehal Wadhera, Tim David, Mohammad Nabi, Gerald Coetzee, Nuwan Thushara, Jasprit Bumrah
Kolkata Knight Riders: Philip Salt (wk), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer ©, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, Chetan Sakariya
Prediction
Following a dominating victory against the Capitals, KKR will be aiming to build on that momentum, while maintaining their hopes of making the playoffs. On the other hand, MI cannot afford any more defeats in the upcoming games and has a strong home record and head-to-head record against the Shahrukh Khan-owned team.
Given that KKR is playing some of their best cricket of the season and that MI the game on Friday in Mumbai is sure to be an entertaining one.