At a gala match on Saturday, two giants of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017; Mumbai Indians (MI) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will clash against each other. Both KKR and Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS) are tied equally with 16 points from 13 games. Obviously, Kolkata will try to beat Mumbai and secure its second position at the IPL points table and move to Play-off round in a thumping manner.
IPL 2017 Live Score: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians #IPL
This is the final game to be played at Eden Gardens. Both teams will try to play a memorable game at the city of joy in front of more than 85,000 spectators at the stadium and a million others who watch the game at home. Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma has a good record in Kolkata and is expected to play a special knock on Saturday.
Also Read: IPL 2017: Complete fixtures, schedule and time in IST with venue details
Team News for Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
KKR’s newly invented batsman, Sunil Narine is doing an apt job for the team with the bat. He will have to lead the KKR’s spin bowling on Saturday to dismantle Mumbai’s long batting line up. Until now, Narine scalped 10 wickets from 13 matches at an economy of 7.10. He has also garnered 214 runs with the bat at a sublime strike rate of 184.
KKR’s batting will largely depend upon the experienced troika of Chris Lynn, , Gambhir and Robin Uthappa on top. Then they have the dependable Yusuf Pathan and Manish Pandey as well in the middle order. So, if MI post anything lesser than 190-run mark then it won’t be a problem for KKR to chase down easily.
In Bowling, KKR will expect some awe-inspiring spells from its experienced bowlers like Umesh Yadav, Woakes, Narine and Piyush Chawla. Bowlers will have to bowl cautiously if Mumbai chases. Dew factor will certainly help the team batting second to get runs easily.
Team News for Mumbai Indians (MI)
Mumbai have nothing to lose tomorrow even if they are beaten in Kolkata. But just before the play-off, they definitely won’t like to feel upset or dejected. The men-in-blue have a solid batting and bowling combination with enough capacity to thwart any pressure.
Mumbai’s batting is pretty well. All its top order batsmen are getting runs too. Especially, its top order including the likes of Parthiv Patel, Simmons, Rohit Sharma and Nitish Rana – all are in magnificent form, and they can spoil Kolkata’s dream too. However, Mumbai will have to improve its bowling as its bowlers have been hammered a lot of time this season and opponents smashed more than 180 runs a lot of time.
At the last match, leggie Karn Sharma bowled well chipping in 3 for 24 at crucial juncture of the match. He is expected to get priority over all-rounder Krunal Pandya again. Rest of the MI bowlers include McClenaghan, Malinga, Harbhajan Singh and Bumrah.
Predicted Playing XI (Both Teams)
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR): Gautam Gambhir (Captain) , Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa (Wicket Keeper), Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Colin de Grandhomme, Chris Woakes, Sunil Narine, Piyush Chawla, Umesh Yadav and Ankit Rajpoot.
Mumbai Indians (MI): Lendl Simmons, Parthiv Patel (Wicket Keeper), Nitish Rana, Rohit Sharma (Captain), Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Karn Sharma, Mitchell McClenaghan, Harbhajan Singh, Lasith Malinga and Jasprit Bumrah.
Head to Head: Mumbai Indians (MI) have 14-5 win-loss record against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
Match Result Prediction: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will win.
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata. Match will telecast live on Sony ESPN from 8 PM onwards.
Tags: #IPL, Eden Gardens, Indian Premier League, IPL 10, IPL 2017, KKR, Kolkata, Kolkata Knight Riders, Live Score, MI, Mumbai Indians, VIVO IPL
