IPL 2024 Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians: KKR will be aiming to strengthen their lead at the top of the table.
Table-toppers Kolkata Knight Riders will be looking to continue their four-match winning streak against the Mumbai Indians on Saturday. The latter are out of the tournament and will be looking to salvage pride by winning their last two matches and reaching 12 points in the table.
The Knight Riders, who were already outperforming the other teams on the back of carnages from Phil Salt and Sunil Narine also restored the sting in their bowling with Mitchell Starc and Varun Chakravarthy coming back to their red-hot form. MI, on the other hand, will be counting on showdown performances from their batsman in their penultimate match of the season
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KKR likely XI (if batting first)
Phil Salt, Sunil Narine, Shreyas Iyer (c), Ramandeep Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy
KKR likely XI (if bowling first)
Phil Salt, Sunil Narine, Shreyas Iyer (c), Ramandeep Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora
MI likely XI (if batting first)
Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Verma, Naman Dhir, Nehal Wadhera, Hardik Pandya (c), Tim David, Anshul Kamboj, Piyush Chawla, Jasprit Bumrah
MI likely XI (if bowling first)
Ishan Kishan, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Verma, Naman Dhir, Hardik Pandya (c), Tim David, Anshul Kamboj, Piyush Chawla, Jasprit Bumrah, Nuwan Thushara
Player Statistics (KKR)
1. Sunil Narine
KKR’s lethal opener Sunil Narine has laid the cornerstone for the team’s many high-scoring totals this season. Known for his fearless batting style, the all-rounder has smashed 461 runs in 11 innings with three half-centuries and a hundred to his name. The Caribbean has scored runs at an impressive strike rate of 183.67 this season.
2. Phil Salt
English batter Phil Salt has emerged as the second-highest run scorer for the team with 429 runs from 11 matches at an average of 42.90 and a destructive strike-rate of 183.33. Salt, who has anchored the team to a lot of wins has scored four fifties this season.
Players who can make a difference
1. Varun Chakravarthy
Varun Chakravarthy has emerged as the highest wicket-taker for the Knight Riders this season. The mystery spinner has scalped 16 wickets from 11 matches at an economy of 8.75. Varun played a crucial role in KKR’s victory in their previous encounter against the Lucknow Super Giants by picking three wickets for 30 runs.
2. Mitchell Starc
Aussie speedster Mitchell Starc got back to his form after picking an impressive four-wicket haul against MI this season. The left-hander has picked 12 wickets from 10 matches this season and will be looking to replicate his previous stint against MI on Saturday.
Player Statistics (MI)
1. Jasprit Bumrah
MI’s ace bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been the most economical bowler of the season and a force to reckon with from the team’s side. Bumrah has picked 18 wickets from 12 matches at an excellent economy of 6.21.
2. Tilak Varma
Left-hander Tilak Varma has emerged as the highest run scorer for the Indians this season. Tilak has scored 384 runs from 12 matches at a strike rate of 147 and will be one of the players to watch out for against KKR.
Players who can make a difference
1. Suryakumar Yadav
Suryakumar Yadav notched a century in the last match against the Sunrisers Hyderabad and will be looking to continue his run against KKR as well. The right-hander has scored 334 runs from nine matches at a strike rate of 176 with 3 fifties to his name as well.
2. Tim David
Australian all-rounder Tim David might have looked patchy this season but can turn the tide in MI’s favour on his day. Despite having scored only 241 runs from 12 matches, the Aussie can give a handy finish down the order.
Head-to-head
While both teams have met each other on 33 occasions, it is the Mumbai Indians who have dominated the head-to-head with 23 wins. However, the table-toppers KKR had the last laugh winning their previous encounter this season.
Venue Details
The historic Eden Gardens has been a batting paradise this season with a lot of high-scoring encounters. In the six matches played this season, four teams have won their match batting second. Therefore, the teams winning the toss are likely to bowl first to restrict the teams to a reachable total.
Match Prediction
As the table toppers KKR meet the five-time former champions, they’ll come in with a whole lot of confidence with 3 wins on the trot. MI, on the other hand, have lost four of their last five encounters and are also out of the season. With KKR playing on their home turf, they will surely enter as the favourites to win the match.
Fantasy XI
Phil Salt (c), Sunil Narine (vc), Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Verma, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Mitchell Starc
