Kolkata Knight Riders will look to return to winning ways in the 2018 Indian Premier League as they take on their nemesis Mumbai Indians at Eden Gardens tonight (May 9). Late revival of Rohit Sharma-led MI has seen them climb to the 5th spot in the points table. At the same time, KKR has done wonders in some matches, while ending up on the losing side in other closely fought contests.
KKR: No better place to beat Mumbai Indians
It’s time for our Knights to get the monkey off their back. A narrow loss against MI at the Wankhede stadium was a heartbreaker, especially after having a great start with the bat during the chase. Kolkata Knight Riders’ strength has been their team effort with the bat. Unwell Sunil Narine wasn’t able to open in our previous match due to dehydration. He’ll look to change the fortune for the home team.
The change in the batting order may have costed us in the previous match, but Robin Uthappa’s quickfire 50 was one positive that our Knights will take with both hands. Especially after his failure of converting 30s into 50s (only once in 5 matches he’s been able to reach 50 after reaching 30 runs in this IPL).
Prasidh Krishna may have not had a perfect debut, but showed plenty of promise. A fit-again Shivam Mavi might replace Prasidh for the all-important match. Andre Russell too is not having the best of times in the middle during chase. He has succumbed under pressure while chasing, as he has managed to score just 68 runs off 52 balls at an average of 17.0 in this IPL while batting second.
Mumbai Indians: How do they do it?
Well, everyone would like to know, how do they manage to perform so well when everything seems over for them. Steering at the bottom of the table half-way through the tournament, MI has once again pulled back and are now at 5th spot at the points table.
The visitors would look to go with the same playing eleven from the last match in what is a do-or-die encounter for the defending champions.
History
Talking about history, it’s not something that will motivate our fans. But guess what we have played some great cricket at Eden Gardens this season and the huge support from all KnightRiders at the stadium will play an important role as the 12th Man for DK-led KKR. Not many would have expected us to beat CSK at Eden Gardens, but we did it right? So yes, it’s cricket anything can happen.
Head to Head
Overall: Matches - 22
Won by Kolkata Knight Riders - 5
Won by Mumbai Indians - 17
Last 5 games
Won by KKR -0
Won by MI - 5
In our previous match against MI, we had a bad start with the ball as we couldn’t stop MI openers as they gave a perfect start to the home team. We fought back with the ball and held them at 181/4, but couldn’t stop the flow of runs in the death overs. With the bat, Uthappa and Rana’s partnership of 84 runs off 54 balls gave us a perfect platform, but the downfall started with the wicket of Uthappa in the 12th over.
Match Details
8 May 2018, 20:00 (IST), Eden Gardens, Kolkata
