Watch cricket video highlights between Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians. Indian Premier League 2024 sixtieth match, played at Eden Gardens.
A batting-friendly surface is anticipated, but Kolkata’s recent rains may have made the outfield sluggish. It’s not impossible to rule out a shortened game or possibly a washout on Saturday as further rain is predicted. A 12-year curse was broken on May 3 at Wankhede Stadium as KKR overcame MI by 24 runs after falling behind 57 for 5. Manish Pandey and Venkatesh Iyer forced KKR to 169 before Mitchell Starc and Andre Russell, two of the team’s spinners, tore through MI.
After his century against Chennai Super Kings, Rohit Sharma, who will start for India in the T20 World Cup in one of the first two slots, has scores of 36, 6, 8, 4, 11, and 4. After accounting for that century, his average in the next 11 games is a mere 20.45. His strike rate of 152.77 indicates that his new approach to batting in the powerplay may be influenced by his poor average, but it is concerning to have five consecutive low scores in a tournament when most openers are thriving against the new ball.
KKR is hoping that Mitchell Starc, who has won two ODI World Cups and one T20 World Cup, can infuse the team with his exceptional tournament-winning mindset as the playoffs get closer. He has been the most costly player for KKR in terms of economy rate (11.37) as well as paycheque. However, as they have stated during IPL 2024, new bowlers like Harshit Rana and Arora have benefited from his expertise. His first significant performance came last week when he went 4 for 33 against MI; if Starc plays to his full potential, KKR will have all of their holes filled.
This is MI’s first game following the confirmation of their elimination. Big names don’t seem to be taking a break, but if Bumrah does, Akash Madhwal is most likely to take his position. All-rounder Anshul Kamboj ought to play again even if he let up 10.5 in his debut against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Since MI won that game handily, they did not require an impact player; however, if a batter was needed, Piyush Chawla or Shreyas Gopal would probably be substituted.
Why alter a successful combination? When KKR wasn’t as aggressive with the bat as they usually are against MI their bowlers came through for them. The sole thing to think about would be if Nitish Rana, who is well again, should replace Angkrish Raghuvanshi. However, with Sunil Narine, Venkatesh, and Rinku Singh all in the lineup, will that be one left-hand hitter too many? For a batter, Vaibhav Arora is the most likely impact player to be traded.
Do Mumbai Indians (MI) turn on the reset button and begin IPL 2025 preparations? Or do they play with their strongest team even after being ousted from the 2024 Indian Premier League? One opinion is that, with the T20 World Cup less than a month away, it would be wiser to rest important Indian players like Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, and Hardik Pandya. The other is that, even if the side doesn’t finish in the top four, there is a sense of pride involved and a benefit to the World Cup-bound players taking on challenging opponents.
The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) shouldn’t give a damn anymore, in any case. KKR will have the advantage going into the game because of their strong play this season and their victory last week at their home stadium, Wankhede Stadium, over MI, who have a lopsided win-loss record of 23-10 overall and 7-3 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. KKR is attempting to win nine games this season and four in a row. If they get 18 points, they will officially have the “Q” next to their name. If they don’t, though, there could be some anxious travelers for the two away league games left. In what will be their final home game, they would like to ideally secure their spot in the playoffs and increase their chances of finishing in the top two.
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