Mumbai Indians (MI) will be eager to record their first win of the season when they take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in an exciting 14th game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune Wednesday, April 6.
In a low-scoring thriller, the Shreyas Iyer-led KKR team are heading into this game on the back of a six-wicket victory against the Punjab Kings (PBKS).
The West Indies all-rounder Andre Russell wreaked havoc at Wankhede Stadium as he swatted a 31-ball 70 and remained unbeaten to take his side over the finish line against PBKS.
Since day one, Umesh Yadav has been their star bowler and has delivered with the ball in all the matches. He is currently the highest wicket-taker of the tournament, holding the Purple cap. Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, and Tim Southee have been equally promising with the ball.
The only concern for Shreyas Iyer and co. is their top order, which is yet to fire with the bat. Venkatesh Iyer hasn't contributed with the bat in all the games, while Ajinkya Rahane, who looked in good form in their opening game, failed to replicate it in the following two games. Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer and Nitish Rana are yet to give match-winning performances.
The Men in Purple has so far played three games in the ongoing tournament, where they won two while losing one. They are currently placed at the 2nd spot of the points table with 4 points in their kitty.
Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, have made a slow start to their IPL 2022 campaign, losing both of their opening games. They lost their previous match against Rajasthan Royals by 23 runs after MI's batters failed to chase down the target of 194 runs.
Rohit Sharma has failed to convert the good starts, and their middle order lacks stability. Their bowling hasn't been up to the mark in both games. Suryakumar Yadav might be included in the playing XI on Wednesday and it will eventually help them in bolstering their middle order.
Mumbai Indians are currently languishing at the bottom half of the points table and must be looking for their first victory in the season. But with Ishan Kishan and Jasprit Bumrah in the MI's ranks, a thrilling game of cricket beckons at the MCA, Pune.
Match Details
Match: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians, Match 14
Venue: Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune
Date & Time: 6th April at 7:30 PM IST & Local Time
Live Streaming: Star Sports Network and Disney+Hotstar
Pitch Report
It will be the third game on this ground in this season of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. The two games played at this venue were high scoring and were won by the team batting first. The same trend is expected on Wednesday as well.
The batters must make full use of the powerplay conditions, with the pitch slowing down as the game progresses, while the quick bowlers might get some swing in the early hours of the game. Although 170 should be par on this ground, considering the batting lineup of both teams, anything around 200 could be on the cards.
Pitch Stats [IPL 2022]
Matches Played: 2
Matches Won Batting First: 2
Matches Won Bowling First: 0
Average 1st Inning Score: 190
Average 2nd Inning Score: 150
KKR vs MI Head-To-Head
Matches Played: 29
Matches KKR Won: 07
Matches MI Won: 22
Injury Update/Players Availability
Kolkata Knight Riders: Pat Cummins, who joined the KKR camp last week, will be available for selection, and it would be interesting to see who will make way for him in KKR playing 11.
Mumbai Indians: Suryakumar Yadav's availability against KKR is yet to be confirmed. However, if available, he will most likely replace Anmolpreet Singh in Mumbai's playing XI. Riley Meredith or Fabian Allen might replace Daniel Sams.
Squads
Kolkata Knight Riders
Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Venkatesh Iyer, Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Nitish Rana, Shivam Mavi, Sheldon Jackson, Ajinkya Rahane, Rinku Singh, Anukul Roy, Rasikh Dar, Chamika Karunaratne, Baba Indrajith, Ashok Sharma, Pratham Singh, Abhijeet Tomar, Sam Billings, Alex Hales, Ramesh Kumar, Mohammed Nabi, Aman Khan, Umesh Yadav
Mumbai Indians
Rohit Sharma (C), Ishan Kishan (wk), Kieron Pollard, Suryakumar Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Tim David, Jaydev Unadkat, Tymal Mills, Jofra Archer (unavailable & injured), Riley Meredith, Daniel Sams, Fabian Allen, Mayank Markande, Murugan Ashwin, Basil Thampi, Anmolpreet Singh, Dewald Brevis, Tilak Varma, Aryan Juyal (wk), Arjun Tendulkar, Ramandeep Singh, Rahul Buddhi, Hrithik Shokeen, Sanjay Yadav, Arshad Khan
Probable Playing XI
Kolkata Knight Riders
Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Nitish Rana, Shreyas Iyer (c), Andre Russell, Sam Billings (wk), Tim Southee/Pat Cummins, Sunil Narine, Umesh Yadav, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy
Mumbai Indians
Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Tilak Varma, Anmolpreet Singh/Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Kieron Pollard, Murugan Ashwin, Daniel Sams/Fabian Allen, Tymal Mills, Jasprit Bumrah, Basil Thampi
Crex XI Suggestion
Wicket-Keeper: Ishan Kishan
Batters: Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Tim David, Tilak Varma
All-Rounders: Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer
Bowlers: Umesh Yadav, Pat Cummins, Tymal Mills
Captain: Tilak Varma
Vice-Captain: Andre Russell