IPL 2017: Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 5 winning factors
Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders head into their second game of the season on the back of contrasting results. While Mumbai Indians lost their opening game against the Rising Pune Supergiant despite heroics from Hardik Pandya, Kolkata Knight Riders made easy meat of mediocre Gujarat Lions’ bowling to comprehensively chase down a big score with all ten wickets to spare.
England star Jos Buttler started for the Mumbai Indians with a quick cameo innings of 38 and Pandya lifted their sagging hopes in a 30-run final over off Ashok Dinda, but fluent knocks from Ajinkya Rahane and Steve Smith took Pune to a comfortable victory.
Kolkata Knight Riders’ new bowling imports – Trent Boult and Chris Woakes – were at the receiving end of an in-form Dinesh Karthik and Suresh Raina. While Dinesh Karthik fed on his superb recent form, an out-of-sorts Suresh Raina lived on a lot of luck to help Gujarat Lions post a target of 184.
However, Gautam Gambhir and Big Bash star Chris Lynn combined in a record stand - the highest T20 total successfully chased down with 10 wickets in hand – to remain unbeaten and finish off the match by the 15th over.
With the presence of powerful strikers in both the teams, the clash between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders is expected to be another high-scoring affair.
Here’s a look at what all could become the winning factors of the match:
#1 With The Bat
Mumbai Indians’ experiment with Jos Buttler at the top reaped rewards in the opening game against the Rising Pune Supergiant as the England batsman got them to a flying start. But it remains to be seen whether Rohit returns to his preferred opening position today and in the matches to come or not.
Rohit walked in at No: 3 in the previous game, only to get dismissed cheaply by Imran Tahir. It might just be better for him to bat higher, against the new ball, so that he gets enough time and space to get into his groove with the ball coming nicely onto the bat.
Parthiv has always been a consistent starter at the top. However, Mumbai Indians have been dealt a severe blow with the absence of Ambati Rayudu for the next few matches. The right-hander is a seasoned campaigner in the IPL and Mumbai Indians’ go-to-man in the middle order.
Similar to the Mumbai Indians, Kolkata Knight Riders had a surprise in store, when they opened with Gambhir and Chris Lynn, discarding the Gambhir-Uthappa opening combination which has been a constant feature of KKR in the past.
The move saw the former duo scripting a record unbeaten opening stand. However, KKR will hope their middle order is ready for the challenge when the opportunity arises. The likes of Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan and Uthappa himself have not had the best of runs recently in domestic cricket but are proven IPL performers.