Overview
Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium will host match 22 between the Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Sunday as the action continues in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. The Mumbai Indians recently clinched their first victory of the tournament against Delhi Capitals, while KKR lost a high-scoring game against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Friday.
Before their win against Delhi, Mumbai Indians had suffered heavy defeats against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings, leaving them at the bottom of the table. Despite their narrow victory over Delhi, a flatter throw from David Warner, the Delhi captain, on the final ball of the game could have forced a Super Over.
Rohit Sharma, Mumbai Indians’ skipper, took the Player of the Match award in the game against Delhi, scoring 65 runs from 45 balls at the top of the order. Rohit needs only 34 more runs to join Virat Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, and David Warner in the 6000-run IPL club. However, Suryakumar Yadav’s poor run of form continued, as he made his fourth duck from his last six innings in all forms of cricket.
Back home 🏟️ & the hustle continues 💪🏏#OneFamily #MIvKKR #MumbaiMeriJaan #MumbaiIndians #IPL2023 #TATAIPL MI TV pic.twitter.com/HRZW3L40O0
— Mumbai Indians (@mipaltan) April 15, 2023
Against Delhi, Jason Behrendorff, the Australian left-arm pacer, and Piyush Chawla, the experienced leg-spinner, picked up three wickets each. Chawla has taken the wickets of top and middle-order batters across the last two matches.
KKR had won successive games against RCB and Gujarat Titans, before losing to Sunrisers Hyderabad. The game against Gujarat has already gone down in IPL history, with Rinku Singh striking sixes from the final five deliveries of the innings to complete a chase that had looked impossible. In Friday’s defeat to Hyderabad, Nitish Rana and Rinku both threatened to produce a similar outcome when they took KKR’s total from 96-5 (10.1) to 165-6 (16.3), while chasing 229 for the win. The pair have now contributed a combined 226 runs (14 x 4s, 19 x 6s) across the last two games, with Rinku finishing unbeaten in both.
However, Kolkata’s bowlers have leaked runs in their previous two games. The opening-bowling pair of Umesh Yadav and Lockie Ferguson have both gone wicketless, with Ferguson conceding 77 runs from his six overs.
Venue and time
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai. 3:30 PM IST
Expected conditions and toss
Expect Mumbai to be hot and humid on Sunday afternoon, making things tougher for the players out on the field. While the day game nullifies the dew factor, the scorching heat could mean that the pitch assists the spinners and slower bowlers. The team that wins the toss could very well opt to bat first and utilise the freshness of the pitch before it starts to dry up even further. The weather forecast predicts a hot evening in Mumbai, with the temperature expected to be over 30C throughout the game.
Head-to-Head
This will be the 32nd contest between Mumbai Indians and KKR, with the head-to-head score 22-9 in Mumbai’s favour. However, KKR is looking for their fourth win in a row against Mumbai.
Possible XIs and Impact Player Watch
Kolkata Knight Riders have used Suyash Sharma when bowling first. A batter like Mandeep Singh or Aarya Desai, their new recruit, could come in as an Impact player in place of Suyash if chasing a total. If Andre Russell is unfit for the game, then a start for David Wiese, the Namibia all-rounder, could be on cards. Jason Roy could start his first game of IPL 2023 as well.
For Mumbai Indians, Kumar Kartikeya has been a brilliant Impact Player with the ball. He is expected to retain the slot for the game against Kolkata Knight Riders.
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (C), Cameron Green, Ishan Kishan (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Hrithik Shokeen, Riley Meredith, Arshad Khan, Piyush Chawla, Jason Behrendorff.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Jason Roy, N Jagadeesan (WK), Nitish Rana (C), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell/David Wiese, Sunil Narine, Suyash Sharma, Varun Chakaravarthy, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur.