An opportunity for KKR to confirm their spot in the playoffs

Mumbai Indians have a phenomenal record against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens but that won’t matter much on May 11 (Saturday), considering Hardik Pandya and Co. have already been knocked out of the Indian Premier League 2024. They don’t have anything to play for, except for the clichéd pride.

Meanwhile, Kolkata have done a lot of things right this season and are currently at the top of the points table. Thanks to their batting unit, KKR have the best NRR (+1.453), and a win here would not only confirm their spot in the playoffs but will more or less also cement their place in the top two. 

KKR vs MI Head-to-Head

Overall - Games 33 | KKR 10 | MI 23 

In Kolkata - Games 10 | KKR 3 | MI 7

Venue details

The Eden Gardens has been very good for batters this season, having the second-best scoring rate (10.6) amongst all venues. The batters here have scored runs at an average of 33.7, while a wicket has fallen every 19 deliveries. 

The venue has already given us eight 200-plus totals (six 220-plus) in six games. The spinners have been slightly more economical (9 vs 11.4) compared to seamers, but that’s largely because of the quality Varun Chakaravarthy and Sunil Narine possess. 

Weather forecast

It’s been raining in Kolkata for a couple of days and the forecast for the matchday isn’t great either. There’s a 40 percent chance of rain during the game time. The temperature is expected to be around 28-30 degrees Celsius, and the humidity will be in the range of 85-90%. 

Things to watch out for

Rohit, Kishan experiencing a slump

Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan were in pretty good form in the first six games of the tournament, averaging 51.3 as an opening pair and striking at 184. However, those numbers have dropped to 18 and 164, respectively, in the last six encounters, with not a single 50-plus partnership between the two.

The two are averaging less than 15 in the last six games. Rohit has managed only 69 runs @ 11.7 and a strike rate of 115, while Kishan has scored 82 runs at an average of 13.7 and 109. The two would want to finish the tournament on a high, especially Rohit with the T20 World Cup right around the corner.

Ramandeep making an impact down the order

Sunil Narine, Phil Salt, Shreyas Iyer, Venkatesh Iyer, and Andre Russell have all been in good/decent hitting form this season, but there’s one more batter who has quietly been playing those fiery cameos down the order. That’s right, we are talking about Ramandeep Singh. 

The 27-year-old has only faced 54 deliveries but has managed to hit 108 runs at a strike rate of 200. No other KKR batter has a better strike rate than Ramandeep. He started the season with a game-changing 17-ball 35 against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, he smacked 24* off 9 before whacking 25* off 6 vs Lucknow Super Giants. 

Probable XIs

KKR - Philip Salt (wk), Sunil Narine, Angkrish Raghuvanshi (IP), Shreyas Iyer (c), Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Varun Chakaravarthy, Harshit Rana, Vaibhav Arora (IP)

MI - Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma, Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Nehal Wadhera (IP), Tim David, Anshul Kamboj (IP), Piyush Chawla, Jasprit Bumrah, Nuwan Thushara

Telecast and streaming details

The match will be live on Star Sports Network and live-streamed on Jio Cinema. The game will start at 7:30 PM, with the toss happening at 7 PM.

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