• (Info4Now)– As in the middle overs Mumbai Indians’ batsmen got slowed down with the oddness of the wicket, RCB capitalised it to bring them down under 160. But Rohit Sharma didn’t spare any little thing to collar them on a wicket that somehow was not quite productive. Still things didn’t change a lot for the Challengers, the first innings score being too unhealthy to rein quality campaigners like Virat Kohli and de Villiers.

Kolkata have everything to cheer just before the game against their all-time tough opponent Mumbai Indians as the plan in the first game went well with them. They are trying to get away from last year’s hangover of slow start in the powerplay. Sunrisers Hyderabad’s bowling appeared a little bit tired against Kolkata’s attack and they have to examine it.

Preview of KKR vs MI T20, Match 5

I don’t know whether Mumbai Indians will go for the same XI considering the first game as just a single match. If they include experienced Chawla or off-spinner Jayant Yadav in place of Chahar, it’s going to be the only probable change. Trent Boult and Bumrah are very accurate and almost wicket to wicket. On a spin friendly track of Chepauk, Pollard and Pandya might be out of action. So Krunal Pandya should create pressure as the fifth bowler.

Rohit Sharma bags an excellent record against KKR and he is going to be the key man today. Chris Lynn an ex- Knight must have the free licence alongside Rohit. Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan in the middle are more than enough to keep the opposition captain in pressure. Chris Gayle, the big man from West Indies started having good touches last evening at Wankhede. Mumbai will also be hoping something from Pollard today. Pandya brothers are always in the game and therefore manage to defend the lower middle order well.

Subhman Gill is to find his rhythm and fell short of what we expected in the KKR VS SRH Preview, but Nitish Rana delivered the same escalation Kolkata were in need of. Dinesh Karthik was excellent with his fiery short innings as he batted really well on a pitch slowing down. Andre Russell and Eoin Morgan will be looking for some useful runs. Against a top side like Mumbai their contribution will matter much.

Shakib Al Hasan may make playing XI as Kolkata will go with the winning combination. He is a boost for Kolkata as he can handle the lower order and has the capability to bowl in powerplay. Varun Chakraborty and an orthodox spin option of Harbhajan Singh on this wicket might come out handy. Every single game will make Prasidh Krishna an inch better than the earlier ones. So his enjoying the game alongside Pat will be taken into account.

To Conclude

In the past, MA Chidambaram Stadium produced lots of runs in IPL. But his session it is behaving a little bit differently. Mumbai Indians have a very strong middle order and lower middle order to chase down a healthy total even on such a track. So they can take risk of chasing. On the other hand, KKR cannot challenge the oddness of the wicket if placed on the right side of the coin. So to bat first is not going to be just a gamble.