IPL 2019, MI vs KKR: Head-to-head record, probable XI and players to watch out for

On 5th May the Mumbai Indians will take on the Kolkata Knight Riders for the second time in IPL 2019, this time at Mumbai. MI stand second in the points table with eight wins from 13 games, while KKR are at the 5th position with six wins from the same number of matches.

While Mumbai have already booked a playoff spot, it’s a do-or-die game for the Knight Riders. To keep their playoffs alive the visitors not only have to win this game, but also hope for the Sunrisers Hyderabad to lose against the Royal Challengers Bangalore.

If SRH win against RCB, then KKR would have to defeat MI by a huge margin of 100 runs or possibly even more, as their net run rate is much lower than that of SRH.

Head-to-head record

These two teams have fought each other 24 times in the past. MI have emerged victorious in 18 games, while the Knight Riders have managed to win only 6 times.

KKR won the match by 34 runs when these two met earlier in the season.

Probable XI – Kolkata Knight Riders

Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Shubman Gill, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Dinesh Karthik (c & wk), Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Harry Gurney, Sandeep Warrier

Players on the bench: Lockie Ferguson, Nikhil Naik, Kuldeep Yadav, KC Cariappa, Carlos Brathwaite, Shrikant Mundhe, Kuldeep Yadav, Matthew Kelly, Prasidh Krishna, Yarra Prithviraj

Player to watch out for – Andre Russell

The mighty West Indian has been the only consistent batsman for the KKR this season. He has scored 510 runs from 13 games at a strike rate of over 200, winning several matches for his team single-handedly. If he gets going, KKR know that no score is out of reach for them.

Probable XI – Mumbai Indians

Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Mitchell McClenaghan, Rahul Chahar, Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah

Players on the bench: Yuvraj Singh, Anmolpreet Singh, Aditya Tare, Siddhedh Lad, Pankaj Jaiswal, Anukul Roy, Ben Cutting, Jayant Yadav, Evin Lewis, Barinder Sran, Rasikh Salam, Jason Behrendorff

Player to watch out for – Hardik Pandya

With 373 runs from 13 games at a staggering strike-rate of 197, Hardik Pandya has proved why the Mumbai franchise have so much faith in him. He has also been handy with the ball as he scalped 12 wickets in the tournament so far.