Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians Predictions: IPL 5th Match Preview

While it’s not out of the ordinary for Kolkata Knight Riders to win against Sunrisers Hyderabad, it’s definitely not usual for the Mumbai Indians to lose to Royal Challengers Bangalore. Yet, such were the results of the first round of matches for these two teams. At the time of writing, KKR are in second place, just behind Delhi Capitals in run rate, while the Indians are in fourth and without a point. Like last year, the defending champions will want to  bounce back with a string of wins, while the Knight Riders will try everything in their power to not fall just short of qualification yet again. Before Eoin Morgan’s men meet Rohit Sharma’s, let’s take a look at how they’re doing.

Kolkata Knight Riders

Predicted XI vs Mumbai Indians

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

Kolkata Knight Riders team preview and form

Although one win doesn’t define a season, KKR certainly looked like they meant business when they played the Sunrisers. Batting first against SRH, Nitish Rana played a fantastic opening innings to get 80 off 56, and with great support from Rahul Tripathi’s aggressive 53 off 29 and Dinesh Karthik’s late cameo of 22 from 9, KKR put up a strong 187. On the defense, Prasidh Krishna showed sparks of his brilliance to pick up two wickets, and with Shakib Al Hasan, Pat Cummins, and Andre Russell also striking, KKR managed to limit their opponents to 177 for a 10-run victory.

Kolkata Knight Riders key players vs Mumbai Indians

Nitish Rana: After a spectacular first match, Rana will be looking to become a mainstay for KKR.

Shubman Gill: In contrast to Rana, Gill will be looking to impress so as to keep himself relevant.

Shakib Al Hasan: Back with his brilliant bowling, Shakib will want to step up his game at the Chidambaram.

Varun Chakravarthy: Varun had a fruitless first match, and he’ll want to be more effective next time around.

Mumbai Indians

Predicted XI vs Kolkata Knight Riders

Rohit Sharma (c), Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Chris Lynn, Suryakumar Yadav, Trent Boult, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rahul Chahar.

Mumbai Indians team preview and form

While their first match didn’t go quite the way a champion team wants to start off their title defense, but Mumbai Indians started last year similarly, and won’t be deterred. Put into bat by Royal Challengers Bangalore, the Indians lost wickets at regular intervals, and despite Chris Lynn making the best of the absence of Quinton de Kock to make a statement about his skills with 49 off 35, only two batsmen were truly able to support him - Suryakumar Yadav with 31 off 23 and Ishan Kishan with 28 off 19. The result was Mumbai finishing on just 159. Their defense wasn’t too bad, though, as a couple of run outs added to solid bowling by Jasprit Bumrah, Marco Jansen (2 wickets each), and Krunal Pandya (1 wicket). However, MI was still unable to prevent their opponents from reaching their target off the last ball with just a wicket in hand.

Mumbai Indians key players vs Kolkata Knight Riders 

Ishan Kishan: Kishan has the firepower needed to be an excellent T20 batsman, and he just needs some more consistency. 

Chris Lynn: After top scoring the other night, Lynn will be more confident about his skills.

Jasprit Bumrah: Back on the field and back in business is the reliable Bumrah.

Rahul Chahar: He may not have impressed in the first game, but the young man has skills beyond his years.

Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians pitch report and weather conditions

The Chennai pitch was initially thought to be quite difficult to bat on, but after yesterday’s run fest, it may not be considered as formidable. Nevertheless, there will be plenty of turn for spinners, while fast bowlers find it difficult to get much pace or bounce from it. Expect teams to want to field first, and first-batters to aim for 170+ for a good score.

Despite being warm, Tuesday will be a pretty good day for cricket in Chennai. Partly cloudy and humid, there’s little chance for rain when the match takes place, and a light breeze will alleviate the warmth.

Can the Knight Riders continue their form from the first game? Or will the Indians crush them as they have on so many occasions before? Find out if our KKR vs MI predictions come true on Tuesday!