IPL Match 5: KKR vs MI

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will play their first match of Indian Premier League against Mumbai Indians (MI) in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

Looking at the stats of past 9 seasons, Mumbai Indians have won 19 matches against Kolkata Knight Riders while the latter side has emerged triumphant just 6 times. This time, however, things could change considering the investments KKR have done in their team.

Kolkata Knight Riders are the only team to have not played a match in the ongoing season. Last season, they missed the playoffs by a narrow margin – Sunrisers Hyderabad had the same points as them but progressed on the basis of a better net run-rate.

KKR XI: Sunil Narine, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik (captain and wk), Pat Cummins, Kuldeep Yadav, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna.

MI XI Rohit Sharma (captain), Quinton de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Nathan Coulter-Nile/James Pattinson, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah.

WEATHER FORECAST

Expect another hot day with temperature swinging between a high of 38 degrees Celsius and a low of 30 degrees Celsius. And it’s going to be humid as well.

PITCH REPORT

Bowlers have been the one decided the fate in Abu Dhabi. The grass covering has helped seamers. No wonder barring Sharjah, the other three matches have seen middling scores.