IPL 2021: KKR v MI preview

The most one-sided record in IPL history has Mumbai Indians winning 21 of their 27 matches against Kolkata Knight Riders. It’s a queer one primarily because Kolkata have a reasonably good history in the league. That’s in the past, though, and here, there’s no Wankhede or Eden Gardens, and on a slow Chepauk wicket, it will come down to which team finds their feet on the surface better.

Both teams have had a glimpse of the Chepauk wicket and it is, to be fair, playing truer than the surfaces we have seen in previous years at the venue. The toss will remain a factor with chasing down runs looking tougher in the two matches played so far at the venue this season.

Team news

KKR: KKR will likely stick to their winning combination, playing Shakib Al Hasan ahead of Sunil Narine. Lockie Ferguson, despite the promising pace he could add against a strong Mumbai middle-order, will likely warm the bench with Cummins continuing as the overseas pacer.
MI: Mumbai Indians will have Quinton de Kock and Adam Milne available. However, it is unlikely that either will play after Chris Lynn and Marco Jansen had good outings in the first game and are used to the Chepauk wicket now. They are unlikely to tinker with their XI for this game at least.

Pitch and weather

The humidity in Chennai could aid dew, but the two matches so far have seen the pitch also slow down considerably making run chases tougher. The temperature will go from the mid-30s to late 20s at night. The conditions demand the team winning the toss to bat first and put a total on board.

Read the KKR v MI Dream11 fantasy preview here.

KKR v MI Predicted XI

MI: Rohit Sharma (c), Chris Lynn, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Marco Jansen, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah

KKR: Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Shakib Al Hasan, Pat Cummins, Harbhajan Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy