The Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders will be desperate to clinch the two points available for the taking in Match 56 in VIVO IPL 2019; two points from a win will guarantee the Mumbai Indians a top-two finish, while a win for the Knight Riders will see them sneak into the playoffs.

Both teams will be confident coming into this match; the Mumbai Indians will be bustling with confidence following their Super Over win against Sunrisers Hyderabad, while the Knight Riders have some momentum behind them following wins over MI and Kings XI Punjab.

Despite progressing to the next round, Mumbai is yet to bring out their A game this season. However, they have managed to win in clutch situations. The three-time IPL champions have been involved in four last-over finishes – winning three of them (two off the final ball and one in the Super Over). Different players have stepped up for them and evident by the fact that there’s only one player each in the top-10 lists of highest run-getters (Quinton de Kock) and wicket-takers (Jasprit Bumrah). Mumbai, playing their last match at home this season, will look to avenge their loss at the Eden Gardens.

Barring death bowling, the Knight Riders are ticking the right boxes. Shubman Gill is showing his class at the top of the order. All his fifties this season – three in total – have come when he’s opened the batting. Sandeep Warrier, replacing Prasidh Krishna, has had two good games with the ball. And, the batting unit as a whole has started to click without being over-dependent on an individual.

Head to Head in Indian Premier League

Overall: Matches – 24, Mumbai Indians – 18, Kolkata Knight Riders – 6.

At the Wankhede Stadium: Matches – 8, Mumbai Indians – 7, Kolkata Knight Riders – 1.

Team News:

Mumbai Indians: For the second time in as many matches, Barinder Sran and Evin Lewis haven’t shone in their respective departments. The hosts have the likes of Ishan Kishan and Beuran Hendricks (hasn’t played this season at all) on their bench, but the chances of Rohit tinkering with the playing XI – especially after a win – is low.

Probable XI: Quinton de Kock(w), Rohit Sharma(c), Evin Lewis/Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Barinder Sran/Beuran Hendricks, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga

Kolkata Knight Riders: Every batsman in the top five made significant contributions in Kolkata’s win against KXIP. KKR’s weak link this season has been their bowling. Harry Gurney leaked 22 runs off the final over, however, the Knight Riders are highly unlikely to replace the Englishman. One change that KKR can consider is bringing in Kuldeep Yadav in place of Piyush Chawla as the latter has been very expensive in his last two outings.

Probable XI: Chris Lynn, Shubman Gill, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik(w/c), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Rinku Singh, Kuldeep Yadav/Piyush Chawla, Sandeep Warrier, Harry Gurney

If the Mumbai Indians are victorious in this contest, they will head back to Chennai to compete in Qualifier 1 scheduled to be played on May 7; if they finish third in the table, they will compete in the Eliminator, scheduled to be played in Visakhapatnam on May 8. If KKR are able to sneak into the top four, they will compete against the third-placed team in the Eliminator on May 8.

 

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