This season, the Knight Riders are in phenomenal form. The team has only lost 3 out of 11 matches played to date and is sitting at the top of the table with an excellent NRR. However, with teams like RR and SRH close behind, a win here will be crucial to secure a top-two finish. Sunil Narine is in excellent form both with the bat and the ball. Narine has scored 461 runs at a strike rate of 183.66 and has also taken 14 wickets. His partnership with Phil Salt has often propelled the team to successful starts. Looking at the markets where KKR might have a higher initial partnership, session bets on 1-6 overs, and much more are things to watch out for when KKR plays. Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Shreyas Iyer, and Venkatesh Iyer provide stability to the middle order, while Rinku Singh and Andre Russell are perfect finishers. It’s a dream lineup where there’s cushioning for the explosive player when needed. In terms of bowling, Narine has found the perfect partner in Varun Chakravarthy, who is the leading wicket-taker with 16 scalps. Harshith Rana has performed well throughout the season, and Mitchell Starc seems to have peaked at the right time. There were some concerns about KKR’s bowling lineup, but in the current conditions, they seem to have addressed most of the issues, and they will be very difficult to stop.
Mumbai Indians have had a dreadful season so far. With just 4 wins in 12 matches, the team has firmly placed itself in the bottom half of the table, and reaching the playoffs is now impossible. Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma started well but faltered in the middle of the season. The duo struggled with the new ball and failed to establish significant partnerships in the last few matches. However, Rohit has had excellent performances at the Wankhede Stadium, which could sometimes help a player regain form. There are two bright spots in the MI lineup: Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma. Suryakumar Yadav was in aggressive form in the last match and scored a brilliant goal. He is another player formerly associated with KKR and has fond memories of playing at Eden Gardens. The lower-order batting has also not been inspiring. Pandya seems not to be the same attacker we saw a couple of years ago, while Tim David has not had enough time in the middle. Hardik Pandya has performed well in the last two games, but Jasprit Bumrah remains a key bowler for MI. He is also the leading wicket-taker of the season with 18 scalps. Piyush Chawla continues to make an impact, but this in itself tells the story of the Mumbai Indians. This bowling lineup can seriously challenge the strong batting lineup of KKR.
