The MI vs KKR game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 pm (IST) and the toss slated to take place at 7:00 (pm) IST.
Defending champions Mumbai Indians come into the game against KKR high on confidence with a 5-wicket win over a formidable Delhi Capitals (DC). Meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders were handed a 82-run defeat by Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their previous encounter.
Mumbai Indians who are currently on the second spot in the IPL 2020 points table would like to make it 2-0 against the 'Purple Brigade' as they had trounced Kolkata Knight Riders by 49 runs when the two teams faced off earlier in the season.
Defending Champions Mumbai Indians Have Gelled Well As A Team In The Opening Half Of The Tournament
Mumbai Indians have been firing on all cylinders with their batting and bowling coming good in the first half of the tournament. All of the top order MI batsman have struck form and have been amongst the runs for the 4-time champions. MI are finishing off games well at the death with explosive Windies all-rounder Keiron Pollard and Pandya brothers producing the late flourish down the order.
Mumbai Indians bowling unit is well knit with the seam troika of Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult and James Pattinson making inroads into the opposition with wickets. The MI spinners Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya have lent to the support to the seamers by bowling some tight spells in the middle overs.
Kolkata Knight Riders Do Have The Arsenal To Beat Mumbai But Need To Deliver An All-Round Performance
Kolkata Knight Riders do possess the firepower with the willow to take on a potent MI bowling attack but their batting unit will have to deliver collectively. The Knights have produced some eye-catching efforts with the willow as opener Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi and Eoin Morgan have registered blazing knocks.
However, consistency from their frontline batsmen is what KKR will yearn for. The nightmarish run of their hard hitting finisher Andre Russell is a major cause of worry for the Knight Riders.
KKR bowling unit has shown good progress through the course of the opening three weeks with seamers Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna and Kamlesh Nagarkoti getting their act together more often than not.
KKR do have a bit of worry in their spin department with off spinner Sunil Narine's bowling action under the scanner. Meanwhile, Varun Chakravorty has been pretty steady
Here are the full squads for Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders:
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (captain), Aditya Tare, Anmolpreet Singh, Anukul Roy, Chris Lynn, Dhawal Kulkarni, Digvijay Deshmukh, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, James Pattison, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Mitchell McClenaghan, Mohsin Khan, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Prince Balwant Rai, Quinton de Kock, Rahul Chahar, Saurabh Tiwary, Sherfane Rutherford, Suryakumar Yadav, Trent Boult
Kolkata Knight Riders: Eoin Morgan (Captain), Dinesh Karthik, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Rinku Singh, Shubman Gill, Siddhesh Lad, Ali Khan, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Pat Cummins, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrior, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy, Andre Russell, Chris Green, M Siddharth, Sunil Narine, Nikhil Naik, Tom Banton