Indian Premier League 2020: Kolkata Knight Riders vs. Mumbai Indians, Match No. 5

Match predictions

Winners Prediction: Mumbai Indians lost their opening match against CSK at this same venue while KKR is playing their first match currently. Both teams have good batting and bowling departments with a good mix of youth and experience. Mumbai has a stronger lower-middle order with the likes Pandya’s and Pollard while Kolkata edges Mumbai in the spin department with Narine and Kuldeep in the ranks. We expect Kolkata to win this match owing to their strong batting line-up and quality bowling attack. 

Score Prediction: Abu Dhabi have been traditionally an average scoring ground with the scores in the range of 160 runs. Pacer enjoyed good seam and swing movement with the new ball in the first match played here. 

Toss Prediction: Chasing is the best option as dew might play a big role in troubling the bowlers to grip the ball. 

Predicted Playing XI

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS: Dinesh Karthik (C & Wk), Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, Nitish Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Pat Cummins, Prasidh Krishna, Shivam Mavi, Sidhesh Lad/Sandeep Warrior

MUMBAI INDIANS: Quinton De Kock(wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Saurabh Tiwary, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, James Pattinson, Trent Boult, Rahul Chahar

MATCH FACTS

• Trent Boult & James Pattinson reduced CSK to 23/2 at the end of 5 overs in the chase.
• MI has a massive edge with win-loss ratio of 19-6 over the KKR and they have won 9 out of their last 10 encounters. 
• KKR beat Mumbai by 41 runs in their only match they played at this venue in 2014.

Players to Bet on

KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS

• Shubman Gill – Gill was made giant leaps in the cricketing arena over the past year and will look to make solid runs at the top of the order this season. We expect him to excel in the UAE tracks this season. 
• Andre Russell – Russell is a phenomenal hitter in the middle order who can take on any attack and score at a rapid pace. We expect him to play well this season like the 2019 season to help his team post big scores on board. 
• Sunil Narine – Sunil Narine will be a very tough bowler to face if the pitches start turning and remain slow. He will also be a big threat as a pinch hitter at the top of the order.  

MUMBAI INDIANS

1. Quinton De Kock – De Kock scored 33 runs off 20 balls and got his team off to a flier in the powerplay.  He looks to be in great touch, and we expect him to post a big score in this match. 
2. Hardik Pandya – Pandya scored 91 runs off just 31 balls against KKR last season and he will look to boost his team`s score in the second half of the match this time around. 
3. Jasprit Bumrah – Bumrah had a forgetful night against CSK going for 43 runs off his 4 overs. We expect him to make a superb comeback in this match.   

DREAM XI Picks

Wicketkeeper: Quinton De Kock (MI)

Batsmen: Suryakumar Yadav (MI), Eoin Morgan (KKR), Shubman Gill (KKR)

All-rounders: Hardik Pandya (MI), Krunal Panya (MI), Andre Russell (KKR), Sunil Narine (KKR)

Bowlers: Jasprit Bumrah (MI), James Pattinson (MI), Prasidh Krishna (KKR)

Captain: Quinton De Kock (MI) or Shubman Gill (KKR)

Vice-Captain: Krunal Pandya (MI) or Sunil Narine (KKR)

KKR– Kolkata Knight Riders

MI – Mumbai Indians

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