Kolkata Knight Riders will have their task cut out when they lock horns with defending champions Mumbai Indians in their eighth match of the season on Friday. KKR suffered a heavy defeat by 82 runs at the hands of Royal Challengers Bangalore in their previous match. Their batsmen were completely outplayed by the RCB pacers and hence, they will need to come up with a much-improved performance against a rampaging MI pace attack.
Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, are placed second in the table at the moment having won five out of their seven matches so far. They are on a four-match unbeaten streak as well. Their bowlers have dominated and their batsmen have been in fine form as well. All of Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, and Kieron Pollard have had their moments in the season so far. MI appears to be too good a side to be beaten and thus they will start as the favorites to win this battle.
Team News
None of the two sides have any major injury concerns at the moment. Sunil Narine might sit out of this match as well after he was reported for a suspect bowling action. Tom Banton played in place of him in the last match but KKR might opt to go with either Chris Green or Lockie Ferguson for this encounter.
Probable Playing XI
Mumbai Indians
Quinton de Kock (wk), Rohit Sharma (C), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, James Pattinson, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
Kolkata Knight Riders
Shubhman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik (C & wk), Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Varun Chakravarthy, Chris Green/Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna
Fantasy Tips
- You should consider picking all of the three all-rounders — Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, and Andre Russell — in your team for this encounter. Ignoring either of them could cost you big.
- Shubhman Gill, Rohit Sharma, and Suryakumar Yadav are three batsmen who have been pretty consistent and reliable in the tournament so far. They are safe batting options.
- James Pattinson and Jasprit Bumrah are the most reliable bowlers playing in this match. They guarantee wickets.
- Varun Chakravarthy has been a pretty good performer in Narine’s absence. He could prove to be a real differential option in this match.
Fantasy Team
Quinton de Kock
Rohit Sharma
Suryakumar Yadav
Shubhman Gill
Hardik Pandya
Kieron Pollard
Andre Russell
Jasprit Bumrah
James Pattinson
Prasidh Krishna
Varun Chakravarthy
