Thanks of their skipper Rohit Sharma’s brilliant 80, MI slit apart Dinesh Karthik’s KKR by 49 runs when these two sides met before.
KKR are on the rear of a devastating loss in the hands of RCB in their final game. Things haven’t gone well in the KKR camp including all the Sunil Narine associated circumstance. Needing to bowl , KKR were adequate to start off but an ABD’s blinder took the match entirely from them in Sharjah. The continuous shifting of opening batsmen isn’t helping them.
MI won a hard-fought from the DC in their final match using a ball to spare. Bowling first, the MI bowlers did well to limit the Capitals to some below-par 162 on which seemed like a fantastic batting surface. They’ll be content with the bowling kind of Krunal Pandya, who did not have a fantastic outing till then along with De Kock’s consistency with the bat. MI finally won by 5 wickets with two balls to spare after having a slow conclusion because of a spirited bowling performance from DC bowlers.
Key players from both sides
Batsman – Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Eoin Morgan, and Shubman Gill.
As mentioned before, Rohit Sharma has already scored a match-winning knock when these two sides met before and KKR being his favorites opponents, there is no better game to get some runs. Hardik Pandya has been playing purely as a batsman and is yet to fire big as he used to do in the past. So this might the game for both the players. Eoin Morgan has scored several useful knocks but yet to play to full potential IPL and no better way to come back to his then doing it against a champion side such as MI. Shubman Gill is the highest run-getter for KKR this and has been quite consistent. However, this could be a great challenge for the youngsters facing 3 of the world’s premier fast bowlers in the MI attack.
All Rounder- Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard, and Krunal Pandya.
Though Russell has been good with the ball and KKR has more often than not used him as a death-bowler, he as a batsman is yet to deliver any significant performance. On the other hand, his fellow country-men Kieron Pollard has proved to be a match-winner with both and the ball this season. MI will happy with the fact that their star all-rounder is showing signs of regaining his touch with the ball as he has been off-color so far this season and his 2-25 last game against a strong DC batting will give him confidence going to this game.
Bowlers – Pat Cummins, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah, and Rahul Chahar.
Pat Cummins has been disappointing so far as being the lead pacer, he has taken only 2 wickets and is going at an ER of 8.57 which is high for a world-class player him. Bowling in the powerplays, Cummins has to start picking up early wickets, and being a no.1 bowler he may do it sooner rather than later, Varun is being preferred by the KKR as a lead spinner and has not disappointed so far. Bumrah is currently 2nd highest wicket-taker this IPL and will look forward to this clash vs KKR. MI’s spin bowling was cited as a weak link for them going in this tournament but their lead leg-spinner Chahar has performed admirably. With the pitch beginning to assist spinners, he might be a wicket-taker for the MI in the middle-overs.
Battles to look forward
- Rahul Chahar vs Eoin Morgan
- Jasprit Bumrah vs Andre Russell
- Pat Cummins vs Quinton De Kock
Eoin Morgan is an excellent player of spinners and Chahar might find it hard to bowl against the southpaw. He’s a busy player and easily moves the attack in addition to plays large shorts, therefore this face-off will interesting. Pat Cummins hasn’t even taken a wicket in quite a while, and there’s not any greater way to arriving back compared to choosing up the famous MI openers. Andre Russell has failed with the bat and also will likely be under enormous stress facing a harmful Jasprit Bumrah.
Head to Head between MI and KKR.
- Matches Played: 26
- MI Won: 20
- KKR won: 6
Significant Approaching Milestones.
3: De Kock needs 3 more scalps behind wickets to complete 50 IPL dismissals(catch and stumpings).
71- Kieron Pollard required 71 runs to complete 3000 IPL runs.
1- Trent Boult needs 1 more scalp to secure his 50th IPL wicket.
Match conditions
Venue: Sheik Zayed cricket stadium, Abu Dhabi.
Date & Timings: October 16, 2020, at 7.30 PM IST.
Weather: Clear with the temperature around 32 C.
Pitch: Likely to be a slow batting surface with possible due later on.
