MI v KKR: IPL MATCH 56 PREVIEW

"Too little, too late." Sums up MI's campaign in last 2 games. After creating a record of losing 1st 8 games, MI have emerged victorious against RR and in a nail biter against GT in last game. Daniel Sams reedemed himself by defending 9 in the last over and became the only 2nd MI bowler after Malinga to defend less than 10 rus in last over (Stats credit: @ShebasTendulkar via twitter). One can say in hindsight this situation had not arised if MI weren't late in figuring out their best 11. Too many changes were made in the bowling department and Tim David was benched after a couple of failures. In view of the future, it looks a strong side with Brevis, Varma, Tim David and Stubbs who'll probabaly be the core of middle order and with the addition of Jofra, bowling department is only going to get strengthened. MI's position in points table should also be attributed to Rohit & Ishan's form. This was the season where MI needed their most seniormost batters Rohit & Pollard to step up.

They say IPL is won at auction tables. For the 2nd consecutive time KKR have made a big mess in the mega auctions. To add salt to injury, Alex Hales pulled out of the tournament. KKR could have signed a good replacement in Paul Stirling but they decided to bring in Aaron Finch who is struggling to put bat onto the ball in last 2 years. KKR's opening combination is a mess, they are trying a new pair in every new game. As a result, their 2 big guns Russell and Narine have to carry the entire team instead of KKR supporting them with good players. Their hopes of qualification are almost over even if they win their remaining 3 games and it would require a big miracle and an insane amount of bottling by the other teams for KKR to get through. KKR might include Cummins in the 11 since he has a good record against MI in last 3 encounters.

Probable XI

Mumbai Indians

Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Kieron Pollard, Tim David, Daniel Sams, M Ashwin, Kumar Kartikeya, Riley Meredith, Jasprit Bumrah

Kolkata Knight Riders

Aaron Finch/Sam Billings, Baba Indrajith(wk)/Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Anukul Roy, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav/Harshit Rana, Shivam Mavi

Venue

Dr DY Patil Stadium

MI: Played 10, Won 6, Lost 4
KKR: Played 4, Won 2, Lost 2

-Average Total batting 1st: 157.9
-Average Total batting 1st: (In 2022: 169.9)
-Avearge 1st innings winning total: 178.2

-Highest total: 216/4- CSK vs RCB, 2022

-Total Match Played: 33
-Batting First Won: 14
-Batting Second Won: 19

Head to Head

Overall: MI leads by 22-8
Batting 1st: MI leads by 10-3
Batting 2nd: MI leads by 12-5
Last 5 matches: MI leads by 3-2

Match Ups

Rohit vs Umesh: 144/5 at 152 sr
Rohit vs Narine: 137/7 at 108 sr
Rohit vs Russell: 97/0 at 161 sr
Rohit vs Mavi: 18/2 at 120 sr

Pollard vs Narine: 82/4 at 109 sr
Pollard vs Russell: 131/5 at 138 sr

Iyer vs Bumrah: 59/1 at 147 sr
Russell vs Bumrah: 56/3 at 133 sr

Suryakumar vs Umesh: 21/2 at 190 sr
Suryakumar v Narine: 54/0 at 117 sr

Ishan vs Cummins: 8/3
Ishan vs Narine: 9/1
Ishan vs Southee: 0/1
Ishan vs Umesh: 3/1

Form Update
(last 5 innings)

Key players & Fanatsy Picks

Captain / Vice Captain

Suryakumar Yadav: MI missed a stable middle order batter in the 1st 2 games and were boosted by the addition of Sky in the match against KKR. He is a vital cog in this MI line up and has produced 3 consecutive 400+ seasons from 2018-20. 52(36) v KKR, 68(37) v RCB and almost a match winning knock of 43(30), followed by a couple of 30s and a 50 in his last game against RR his last 7 outings since comeback from injury before the last match.

Tilak Verma: The southpaw from Hyderabad was a member of India’s U19 World Cup in 2020. He was picked by MI at 1.7 crores after facing a little competition from SRH, CSK and RR. His last outings in VHT and SMAT are one of the major reasons why so many franchises raised the paddle for him. He scored 215 runs in SMAT at a strike rate of 147. Tilak Verma became the youngest batter for MI to score a half century in the last match against RR and followed it up with a 38 against KKR. He again lauched a quickfire attack against Punjab with 36 off 20 balls but was unfortunate to get run out. He was the top scorer in game against CSK with 51and ended with another 38 against LSG and 35 against RR.

Andre Russell: The 2 time MVP of the IPL was quiet with the bat in the past 2 seasons but he displayed a scintillating show of power hitting against PBKS and yet again proved why he is one of the most dangerous players in t20 cricket. He scored 49 in the game against SRH, 40 odd vs GT and another 40+ score in last game and is also contributing with the ball by taking atleast 1/2 wkts in every game. He took 4 wkts in the last over against GT game. Russell strikes at 209 at the death with 74 sixes. He has hit 27 sixes so far.

Budget Pick:
(Fantasy rating: 8.5)

Sunil Narine: 0/15, 1/12, 1/23, 0/26, 2/21, 0/23, 2/21, 0/31, 1/19, 0/19, 1/20 are his spells in the 11 games so far with a dot % of 40 and an economy of 5.3

Wild Card

Jasprit Bumrah: A rare off season where Bumrah has taken just 5 wkts but his eco is still around 8.Given KKR's line up, its the perfect opportunity for him to run through their batting order.

Prediction: Winners - MI

Fantasy XI