IPL Match 32: Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders Predictions and Preview

With Delhi Capitals winning their match against Rajasthan Royals,, Mumbai Indians have once again been demoted to second place. However, they do have a match coming up where they can even things out - and it’s against one of the teams they have seen a lot of success against in the last few years, Kolkata Knight Riders. While Mumbai Indians’ last match against Delhi saw them take the league leaders down, Kolkata’s last match was borderline embarrassing as Royal Challengers Bangalore didn’t just take their third place slot away from them, but absolutely thumped them in the process. Now they’re on the verge of falling out of the top four, and with Sunrisers Hyderabad, Chennai Super Kings, and Rajasthan Royals all looming, they badly need to win this. Before this virtual class struggle begins, let’s take a look at the bourgeoisie and the proletariat of the current IPL table.

Mumbai Indians Preview & Form

After a difficult start to the campaign, Mumbai Indians fought back to the top of the heap with four straight wins. Their last win was their most important yet, as they managed to take down a team that had been league leaders for quite a while. Delhi Capitals put up a decent 162 on a tough Abu Dhabi pitch through the efforts of Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer, but despite a disappointing performance from Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock and Suryakumar Yadav set Mumbai up for the win, helped along by a cameo from Ishan Kishan. As long as Mumbai keeps going the way they have been, they can take this.

Kolkata Knight Riders Preview & Form

Given the 4:1 record KKR holds against MI in their last five meetings, they will have to do a lot better than they did against RCB. Considering the fact that the majority of teams scored 200+ on the small Sharjah ground, RCB actually played quite slowly for their 194, with AB de Villiers’ incredible performance being the game changer. However, KKR’s performance was absolutely dismal as they were almost completely dismantled for 112. Only Shubman Gill got a decent score with 34 - the second-highest was the 16 by Andre Russell and Rahul Tripathi. KKR need to fix their batting woes - and fast, and Karthik’s captaincy could also use much improvement. 

MI vs KKR Match Prediction

Mumbai has had trouble with the years in-between title-winning seasons for quite a while, but this year seems different. Expect Suryakumar Yadav and Kieron Pollard to do well with the bat, while Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult continue their solid performance. 

The Knight Riders badly need this win, and it will take something special from them to beat Mumbai. Expect Eoin Morgan and Nitish Rana to score the runs, while Andre Russell and Prasidh Krishna get the wickets.

Can the Indians overrun the Knight Riders to regain their lead over the Capitals? Or will KKR resolve their issues to trump Mumbai? Find out on Friday!