Mumbai Indians’ domestic bowlers will look to step up as they take on a buoyant Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2022 at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Wednesday (April 6), looking to turn things around after back-to-back defeats. MI have so far looked like anything but IPL’s five-time champions, losing both their opening games – first against Delhi Capitals by four wickets and then against a resurgent Rajasthan Royals by 23 runs.
And skipper Rohit Sharma will seek improvements on multiple fronts to effect a turnaround when they face KKR, who come into the game after beating Punjab Kings by six wickets. For MI, pacer Basil Thampi and spinner Murugan Ashwin have proved to be weak-links as they yielded 73 runs in 3 overs during RR’s innings and the duo will need to produce a better show on Wednesday.
In fact, Australian seamer Daniel Sams too went for runs and remained wicketless in the last two matches. The trio will have to quickly recover from their forgettable outing against RR and bowl in the right areas if they have to contain the KKR batters.
Jasprit Bumrah, with his three-for, however, showed why he is the best in the business, particularly at the death and MI would be hoping for another stellar show from him.
If Mumbai have to post score or chase a big total, which is likely at the MCA stadium in Gahunje, Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan would need to fire on all cylinders.
For Kolkata, the biggest asset is star all-rounder Andre Russell coming back to form. His six-hitting prowess was on display against Punjab Kings and he would be keen to continue from where he left. But their top-order, comprising Ajinkya Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer, faltered against Punjab and the duo would want to give the side a good start.
Match Details
Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians, Match No. 14
Venue: MCA Stadium, Pune
Date & Time: April 6th at 7:30 PM IST
Live Streaming: Star Sports Network, Star Gold and Disney+Hotstar
KKR vs MI Dream 11 Prediction
Wicketkeeper: Ishan Kishan
Batters: Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Tim David, Tilak Verma
All-rounders: Andre Russell, Venkatesh Iyer
Bowlers: Umesh Yadav, Pat Cummins, Tymal Milla
Captain: Shreyas Iyer
Vice-Captain: Umesh Yadav
KKR vs MI 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 Chakaravarthy
Mumbai Indians: Ishan Kishan (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Tilak Varma, Anmolpreet Singh/Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Kieron Pollard, Murugan Ashwin, Daniel Sams, Tymal Mills, Jasprit Bumrah, Basil Thampi
