Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians IPL 2021, 5th game
- In the previous game, debutant Marco Jensen and Chris Lynn were standout performers for Mumbai Indians.
- Top-order trio of Rohit Sharma, Chris Lynn and Suryakumar Yadav doing well consistently has been Mumbai Indian’s strength over the past couple of years.
- For Kolkata, the likes of Harbhajan Singh, Shakib Al Hasan will strengthen the bowling department for this year’s competition.
Defending Champions Mumbai Indians will be looking to get back to winning ways when they take on Kolkata Knight Riders in the 5th game of Indian Premier League to be played at M.A Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday.
In the IPL opener, Mumbai Indians suffered a narrow defeat at the hands of Royal Challengers Bangalore. Despite losing their opening game, Mumbai will be looking to make amends and deliver a clinical performance in this fixture.
On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders will need to bring their A-game to the table with the bat in this high-octane clash. Two-time IPL champions, Kolkata Knight Riders, will be looking towards their experienced players to come to the party and deliver the goods with bat and ball.
Teams' strengths & weaknesses
Mumbai Indians
After going through the mandatory quarantine period, wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock will be available for selection for this game. The team management might stick with Chris Lynn, who performed well in the game played against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Swashbuckling opener Chris Lynn was the star of the show with the bat in the game played against Royal Challengers Bangalore. He played exceedingly well and finished the innings with the top score of 49 off 35 balls with the help of four boundaries and three sixes. He struck a crucial partnership with Suryakumar Yadav to rebuild the innings for Mumbai.
Besides Lynn, Suryakumar played well and chipped in with 31 runs off 23 balls with the help of four fours and one six, whereas Ishan Kishan scored 28 runs off 19 balls with the help of two fours and one six.
In the batting department, the side will be depending on the in-form trio of Chris Lynn, Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan to deliver the bulk of the runs.
In the bowling department, the side will be relying on the pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult and Marco Jensen to make crucial breakthroughs with the new-ball. Playing his debut game, Marco Jensen, showed his potential with the ball in hand and claimed 2 for 28 in his four overs;
Kolkata Knight Riders
The franchise has retained Eoin Morgan as captain for the coming season of Indian premier league. Given the nature of the surface at Chennai, Harbhajan Singh and Shakib Al Hasan might be slotted into the playing XI for this game.
In the batting department, the side will be relying on the likes of Eoin Morgan, Shubnam Gill and Andre Russell will be looking to do the bulk scoring.
Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik and Gurkeerat Singh are other players, who can put their hand and deliver crucial scores for Kolkata in this game.
In the bowling department, the onus will be on the spin trio of Sunil Narine, Shakib Al Hasan and Harbhajan Singh to make crucial breakthroughs in this contest.
Prasidh Krishna and Andre Russell will be two pace options for this game.
Players in form
After putting in excellent performances for India in the England series, Suryakumar Yadav has shown tremendous consistency with the bat for Mumbai Indians. He once again produced a crucial innings for Mumbai in the opening game played against Bangalore. The right-handed batsman will be hoping to put in a big innings in this contest.
Game Statistics
Given their head-to-head record in the Indian Premier League, Mumbai Indians have dominated the proceedings with 21 victories. On the other hand, Kolkata has managed to come out on top on six occasions.
Predictions
Defending Champions Mumbai Indians will start as favorites to win their game against Kolkata Knight Riders. Rohit Sharma and co. will see the defeat against Royal Challengers Bangalore as just an aberration and look to put in an improved performance in this fixture.
With the likes of Chris Lynn, Jasprit Bumrah and Marco Jensen put in excellent performances; the five-time Champions will be keen to make a strong comeback against Kolkata Knight Riders.
Expect Mumbai Indians to beat Kolkata Knight Riders and register their first win of the competition.
