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Teams have been losing quite a few matches at home in the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) lately, and the Mumbai Indians (MI) will hope to set the record straight when they take on the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR).
Rohit Sharma and Co., who recorded a narrow victory over the Delhi Capitals (DC) in their previous game to get off the mark in IPL 2023, will host KKR at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday, April 16.
The Knight Riders have been rather unpredictable in the tournament thus far and have two wins from four matches. One of those wins came thanks to a Rinku Singh heist, while the other was the result of a concerted display at home against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
MI, on the other hand, have played just three matches thus far, the lowest of all 10 teams. They have two points from those encounters and have the second-worst net run rate in the competition. The five-time champions have also lost their only home game of the season so far against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
Mumbai will take heart from the fact that Kolkata have a terrible record at the Wankhede Stadium, but the two-time champions have won all of their last three clashes in the league. They also did so by convincing margins - seven wickets with almost five overs remaining, five wickets with four overs remaining, and 52 runs, respectively.
An interesting contest beckons in Mumbai.
IPL 2023, MI vs KKR Match Prediction: Struggling pace attacks brace for Wankhede test
Both teams' pace attacks have been underwhelming thus far in IPL 2023. Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur haven't done much, and Jason Behrendorff, Mohammad Arshad Khan and Cameron Green haven't either.
With Jofra Archer still recovering from his elbow setback, MI are without real pace-bowling quality. However, Riley Meredith, who was roped in as a replacement for the injured Jhye Richardson, could trouble KKR with his express pace.
Meanwhile, MI's batting has been showing signs of improvement. Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan are slightly better-placed than they were earlier in the season, with the skipper even bagging a Player of the Match award in the team's previous game.
Key Kolkata players will not have had enough time to recover from their previous game, which was less than 48 hours ago. Andre Russell pulled up with cramps after making his first bowling outing of the season and might not be at his physical best.
MI, who are on the back of a long break which would have given them enough time to fine-tune their strategies, are definitely the favorites for this contest. Suryakumar Yadav has been completely at sea so far, but he could come into his own against his spin-heavy former team.
While the Knight Riders have shown that they can spring a surprise or two, the home side have a slight edge.
Prediction: MI to win Match 22 of IPL 2023.
