 "IPL 2023, MI vs KKR: Mumbai Indians face uphill grind against relentless Kolkata Knight Riders")
synopsis
IPL 2023: Mumbai Indians is not off to the best of starts, as it will aim to get back on track against Kolkata Knight Riders at home on Sunday, while the latter has been relentless of late, especially with the bat, making things tedious for the former.
Former five-time record champion Mumbai Indians (MI) will face an uphill task against the firepower of former two-time champion Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) batters when the teams clash here on Sunday in their 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) contest, with both former champions looking to put their campaigns back on track.
While MI broke its winless streak in its last game against Delhi Capitals, KKR went down fighting on Friday night against former champion SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in a high-scoring contest at the iconic Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata. However, despite winning the previous game, the most successful IPL team, MI, will be under added pressure at the Wankhede Stadium, for it has yet to harness its potential in IPL 2023.
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With two wins and as many defeats, KKR has had its share of highs and lows and is placed fourth on the points table with a reasonable net run rate (0.711) compared to MI, which is ninth with two points and a Net Run-Rate (NRR) of -0.879. Rohit Sharma made a match-winning 65 against Delhi Capitals (DC). Still, the challenge for the MI captain will be to attain consistency, especially when the other senior, Suryakumar Yadav, is going through a lean patch.
MI will likely be without its ace pacer Jofra Archer, who has been sidelined by fresh elbow trouble post his appearance in the first match of the season. Jason Behrendorff and Riley Meredith must shoulder the responsibility in the fast-bowling department. At the same time, Piyush Chawla will be expected to carry forward his form from the previous game, where he took 3/22.
MI will bank on its young guns Tim David, Cameron Green, Tilak Varma and Ishan Kishan to fire, given that KKR has shown incredible fight right till the end to pull off a stunning win against defending champion Gujarat Titans (GT) and fight till the last ball against SRH. Rinku Singh will be the biggest threat with the bat for MI since the left-hander has smacked an unbeaten 48 and 58 in his previous two outings batting at No 7.
Besides, skipper Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Shardul Thakur have been among the runs for KKR, which indicates MI will have to be at its best in all departments. KKR skipper Rana banished his ordinary run with the bat, scoring 75 off 41 balls on Friday and announcing his return to form. On the other hand, in his last two outings with the bat, Rinku has alone hit a total of five fours and ten sixes while executing two high-quality knocks in the death overs. Again, the target will be the talented young batter in the KKR line-up.
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However, KKR has some concerns in the form of their all-rounder Andre Russell, who has struggled with the bat in this IPL. Russell could not complete his quota of overs against SRH in Kolkata on Friday night, as he suffered cramps, but his three wickets kept KKR in the game for a long time.
It remains to be seen if KKR would want to try out the explosive English batter Jason Roy at the top, given that Gurbaz has performed his role at the top with flair. Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy have been amongst the wickets for KKR, which also has Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batter Litton Das joining it recently.
Squads:
MI: Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Tim David, Dewald Brevis, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tristan Stubbs, Vishnu Vinod, Cameron Green, Arjun Tendulkar, Ramandeep Singh, Shams Mulani, Riley Meredith Nehal Wadhera, Hrithik Shokeen, Arshad Khan, Duan Jansen, Piyush Chawla, Kumar Kartikeya, Raghav Goyal, Jofra Archer, Jason Behrendorff and Akash Madhwal.
KKR: Nitish Rana (c), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh, N Jagadeesan, Vaibhav Arora, Suyash Sharma, David Wiese, Kulwant Khejroliya, Litton Das (wk), Mandeep Singh and Jason Roy.
Match details
Date and day: April 16, 2023 (Sunday)
Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Time: 3.30 PM (IST)
Where to watch (TV): Star Sports 1 and other Star Sports regional language channels - Also available in HD
Where to watch (Online): JioCinema
(With inputs from PTI)
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