FANTASY PREVIEW
Follow UsTwo sides who endured contrasting fortunes in their first game post restart, Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders will lock horns with each other in Abu Dhabi on Thursday in an encounter which could have huge consequences for the top-four race.
Through an absolute hammering of Royal Challengers Bangalore, KKR did wonders to their net run rate, and victory on Thursday will see them remarkably leapfrog Mumbai Indians on the table and break into the Top 4. Should they do it, it will be a remarkable turnaround, given they were a side who were all but written off heading into the second half, owing to their dismal showing in the first half of the competition. But it will be a very tough ask, given MI have historically been the Knight Riders’ bogey team.
Mumbai too will have motivations of their own, for victory against KKR will take them to third spot, leapfrogging RCB.
Regardless of the outcome, however, the MI-KKR clash will play a significant part in shaping up the race for the top four as the competition goes into overdrive mode.
Head to Head
Overall
Matches - 28 | Mumbai - 22 | Kolkata - 6
Last 5 matches
Mumbai - W4 | Kolkata - W1
Ground Details
The much-awaited encounter will be played at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, and it will be just the second match at this venue since restart. Incidentally, KKR featured in the first match and it was a contest which they thoroughly enjoyed, obliterating the Royal Challengers Bangalore with both bat and ball. There, RCB scored a mere 92 batting first, but it will be unlikely for such a score to be posted again on Thursday.
Abu Dhabi proved to be a pretty good batting wicket in IPL 2020, with teams batting first posting an average score of 163. In fact, these two teams clashed twice at this venue in the last edition, and those games oversaw scores of 195 and 148. What’s interesting is that the venue has historically been good for chasing. In the RCB vs KKR encounter, the team chasing won convincingly, and in the back end of IPL 2020, 6 of the last 7 games were won by the team chasing. Thus it almost goes without saying that the skipper winning the toss would be looking to put the opponent into bat.
Pace dominated at this venue last season, with the speedsters accounting for 68.2% of the wickets to fall, and there could be a high chance of the quicker men once again dictating terms come Thursday. But despite the pitch being a pace-friendly one, Mumbai will need to be wary of the threat of mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, who clinched a match-winning three-wicket haul against RCB.
Suggested Team
Trusting the numbers, we have stacked our team with world class pacers, while also accommodating the ever-so-threatening Varun Chakravarthy. But remember, while you could go for the above team, you also have the option of choosing your own team from Cricket.com’s Fantasy Research Centre. You can use this tool to build your team with the help of algorithms. Based on your preferences, the platform will guide you to create the ideal fantasy XI.
Suggested captain
He missed out in the first game against the Super Kings, but in the purple patch he currently is in, it is impossible to look beyond Suryakumar Yadav as the captain. It was only two innings ago, mind you, that he scored a fifty, and he is also currently MI’s third highest run-getter for the season. With the middle-order still in shaky touch, Suryakumar will know that he will have to go big to get Mumbai back on track for the season.
Our Criclytics Player Projector predicts Suryakumar to score between 14-22 runs against KKR
X-factors
He was on the verge of getting dropped before the season came to a halt in May, but Shubman Gill, against RCB, showed precisely why he is a class act. With a new-found intent, the youngster demolished the RCB bowling attack, and there is every chance that the 22-year-old could carry over the form into Thursday’s clash.
Our Criclytics Player Projector predicts Gill to score between 25-37 run against MI
Varun Chakravarthy is a literal x-factor for KKR, but he could be the x-factor in your fantasy team too. The mystery spinner picked up things from right where he left, and bamboozled RCB with a stunning three-wicket haul. He has taken 12 wickets in just 8 games in Abu Dhabi, so expect the Tamil Nadu man to once again be a menace come Thursday.
Our Criclytics Player Projector predicts Chakravarthy to take between 1-2 wickets against MI
Trent Boult was the powerplay king in IPL 2020, and against CSK he showed encouraging signs of getting back to his best. The left-armer picked two early wickets, and there is a good chance that he could rattle KKR with his swing up-front, particularly given the inexperienced nature of the Knight Riders’ top order.
Our Criclytics Player Projector predicts Boult to take between 1-2 wickets against KKR
Player match-ups
Jasprit Bumrah vs Andre Russell will be ‘the’ match-up to watchout for. In 26 balls, the MI speedster has dismissed the KKR talisman thrice, and has also conceded runs at a SR of just 100.
Probable XIs
Mumbai Indians
Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard (c), Saurabh Tiwary, Krunal Pandya, Adam Milne, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult
Kolkata Knight Riders
Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (c), Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna