The second qualifier in IPL 2017 will be played between the Mumbai Indians and the Kolkata Knight Riders on Friday at the Chinnaswamy stadium, Bangalore. This encounter promises to be a treat for the fans with both teams boasting of the ability to play high-quality cricket courtesy of a number of stalwarts in their ranks.
Although the Knight Riders come into this at the back of a win over the defending champions Sunrisers Hyderabad, Mumbai will certainly back themselves when they take the field at Bangalore after having done the double over the Knights in the league stage.
The Indians have always enjoyed a good record against the team from Kolkata, having won 15 of the 20 contests that they have been involved in and in the second qualifier, Mumbai has a serious chance of further improving on this.
#1 The pocket size dynamite Parthiv Patel
One of the unsung heroes for Mumbai Indians this season – Parthiv Patel has been a force to reckon with at the top order. Unlike other openers, he doesn’t look to play the big shots and scores his runs mostly by using the pace of the ball. Against spinners, his quick footwork and agile wrists allow him to rotate the strike with ease.
Thus, KKR’s pace bowlers like Nathan Coulter-Nile and Umesh Yadav can prove costly against the diminutive left-hander. Gautam Gambhir has numerous bowling options, but if Parthiv, gets into his groove it will be he has the ability to get Mumbai off to a great start and set the platform for a great run
#2 Well-balanced team
One of the reasons for Mumbai’s tremendous performance in IPL 2017 is their strong and well-balanced team. They have plenty of options in every department and hence the failure of few players hasn’t affected their overall team performance.
In the batting department, Mumbai has technically solid batsmen in the form of Parthiv Patel, Rohit Sharma, and Ambati Rayadu while also having world class hitters like Kieron Pollard and Lendl Simmons in their ranks. Add a young Nitish Rana to the line-up and you have a batting line-up that can pose headaches to almost anyone.
The bowling department meanwhile is spearheaded by Mitchell McClenaghan with JaspritBumrah’s death bowling has become a talk of the town. Lasith Malinga is going through a lean patch but he still has the skills to wreck any batting order. Harbhajan Singh and Karn Sharma bring diversity with their spin and make it easy for Rohit and Co. to have a specific strategy against key batsmen from opposite team.
Additionally, Mumbai is benefited heavily due to the all-round performance by the Pandya brothers. Krunal Pandya has the second best economy rate (6.57) among all bowlers from Mumbai while Hardik Pandya can effectively chip in with few quiet overs.
Krunal has batted in only nine innings so far but he has played some match-winning cameos. Hardik, on the other hand, has played the role of a finisher to perfection. His strike rate is the best among Mumbai batsmen and his big hitting ability can take the game away at any point – something that KKR have already witnessed in their meeting at the Wankhede earlier this year.
#3 Kieron Pollard, the six hitting monster
Kieron Pollard’s abilities as a finisher are well-known, but the man from West Indies has always been blamed for having poor composure. However, that now seems to be a thing of the past and in IPL 2017 this right-hand batsman has some real maturity with the willow – emerging as a reliable batsman in the middle order. Hence against Kolkata on Friday, he can be Mumbai’s ace weapon.
In IPL 2017, Pollard averages 30 with the bat but his six hitting ability is what makes him special. The small boundaries at Chinnaswamy stadium further increase the threat of Pollard as even mishits can easily over the ropes in this ground.
At this venue, Pollard has a strike rate of 154.28 and in nine innings he has hit 48 boundaries (21 fours and 17 sixes).
The veteran man from the Carribean is in tremendous form as he has hit three fifties so far this season and if he can get his eye in, the KKR bowling might just be in for a harsh lesson.
#4 Better at handling pressure
In pressure situations, most often the team which handles pressure better emerges victorious. The game on Friday is certainly going to be a tight contest and between the two teams, Mumbai Indians have a better ability of handling pressure.
Mumbai Indians have plenty of big match players in their team and hence this offers them a vital advantage over KKR. Lendl Simmons’ performance in the T20 World Cup semi-final against India is indicative of his nerveless batting approach while Parthiv and Rohit are known to stay calm in all conditions.
Pollard loves playing at the big stage and same can be said about Hardik Pandya. In the bowling department, Bumrah and Malinga can nail their yorkers to perfection. Therefore, if Friday’s match goes to the wire, it will be advantage Mumbai.
#5 Kolkata’s unstable batting line-up
In IPL 2017, KKR has followed the strategy of all-out aggression at the top of the order. Hence Chris Lynn was asked to open the innings with Gambhir and during Lynn’s absence, Narine took over. Although this approach has proved effective for them, it has made their batting line up vulnerable and unstable.
Due to this strategy of aggression, Robin Uthappa has no fixed batting position and it has affected his performance. Same is the case with others down the order with Yusuf Pathan, Suryakumar Yadav and others alike failing to make a real mark with the bat.
This constant shuffling of the batting order can prove fatal for KKR and can become the Achilles heel for the team. On the other hand, Mumbai has a settled team with every player clearly knowing his role in the team.
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