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MI’s openers in Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton have failed in both outings. A brisk start at the top allows the middle-order to settle in and the hosts will be hopeful that their openers come to the party tonight. Their bowling has also lacked penetration so far while their fielding was shoddy in their last game. Boult and Chahar haven’t been able to make an impact in the powerplay and that has added to their woes. MI also made a debatable call when they dropped the young Vignesh Puthur from their lineup in their last game against GT. The leggie was impressive against CSK and getting dropped after that doesn’t send the right message across. Their think tank is of the opinion that horses for courses is the way to go but you also need to back star performers.
MI have always been slow starters and they haven’t been able to get the monkey off their back as they have started this year’s campaign with two losses. They haven’t been able to win an opening game since 2012. They will hope that returning home for this game will provide them solace and an opportunity to reinvent themselves. Sometimes you need motivation to lift yourselves up and the home crowd at Wankhede will serve as the perfect foil for a team which is down on confidence. MI now gear up to face KKR tonight on a surface which is expected to be tailor-made for strokeplay while the new-ball bowlers will have swing and seam movement as their ally to play with.
| Teams | Matches Played | MI Wins | KKR Wins | No Result | MI Highest Score | KKR Highest Score | MI Lowest Score | KKR Lowest Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mumbai Indians (MI) vs Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) | 34 | 23 | 11 | 0 | 232 | 210 | 67 | 108 |
Russell to Suryakumar Yadav, SIX, and he finishes it off in style! Slower length ball just outside off, Suryakumar gets across and launches it over fine leg with that incredible whip of the wrists
Russell to Suryakumar Yadav, FOUR, back of a length outside off, slower one,
Russell to Will Jacks, out Caught by Rahane!! Sharp catch from Rahane and Russell gets another wicket! Good length ball just outside off, slower one, Jacks looks to drive but fails to keep it down.
Narine to Rickelton, SIX, massive hit! Rickelton backs away early, Narine tries following him but drags it down. It's a proper half-tracker and it's been hammered over midwicket
Narine to Rickelton, SIX, all the way from Rickelton! Good length around middle, he gets low and makes good enough contact with the slog-sweep to clear the midwicket boundary
Highlights (1-6 overs): 55 runs | 1 wicket- Johnson begins the innings with a tidy 1-run over- Rana leaks 14 runs in his 1st over- Rickelton gets on a roll as he hits a flurry of boundaries- Chakravarthy starts with a miserly 2-run over- Russell strikes in his 1st over as Rohit departs for another low score
Russell to Rohit, out Caught by Harshit Rana!! Taken. MI lose number 1.
Varun Chakaravarthy to Rickelton, no run, short ball, outside off,
Harshit Rana to Rickelton, SIX, to deep mid-wicket
Harshit Rana to Rickelton, wide, short of length delivery, angled across, well wide outside off and has been wided. Was bowled at
Spencer Johnson to Rickelton, no run, Rickelton hasn't had a great tourney so far. But only two knocks so far. Needs to make it count tonight and gets a fine delivery which beats the edge
Santner to Ramandeep Singh, out Caught by Hardik Pandya!! The fun has ended. Pandya makes another change and it pays off. The batter this time gets drawn into a slap outside off and gets an outside edge. The ball flies off the edge and Pandya takes a simple catch at short third man.
Boult to Ramandeep Singh, 1 run, and takes a single as he squeezed out the fuller ball down to deep cover
Vignesh Puthur to Harshit Rana, out Caught by Naman Dhir!! Brainless from Harshit Rana. That was needless. There is a batter at the other end. Harshit Rana went for the slog sweep, hit it flat, Dhir came in, dived and took it well.
Santner to Harshit Rana, no run, and short ball, skids on, Harshit Rana goes back and slashes the cut down to point
Ashwani Kumar to Russell, out Bowled!! Ashwani strikes again,
Ashwani Kumar to Russell, FOUR, Russell breaks the shackles! A short of length ball on off, Russell clears his front leg and slaps it past the left side of the diving extra cover fielder.
Ashwani Kumar to Manish Pandey, out Bowled!! The ploy to give a debut to Ashwani Kumar has worked to perfection for MI! The young man picks up a 3-fer! He bowls a scrambled seam back of a length ball on leg-stump
Ashwani Kumar to Rinku Singh, out Caught by Naman Dhir!! Another one bites the dust!
Santner to Manish Pandey, 1 run, Santner switches to round the wicket to the right-hander. Some turn once again on a length on middle, Manish Pandey clears his front leg
Vignesh Puthur to Rinku Singh, SIX, just clears long-off! Rinku Singh dances down the track, gets close to the pitch of the tossed up delivery and smacks it downtown. Chahar moves to his right and leaps but it clears him and the fence. 14 runs off the over
Hardik Pandya to Angkrish Raghuvanshi, out Caught by Naman Dhir!! KKR are falling like a pack of cards! They have lost half their side now!
Highlights (1-6 overs): 41 runs | 4 wickets- Boult strikes gold. Narine goes for a duck- Chahar strikes as well. Quinton goes for 1. KKR are 2 for 2- Ashwani gets the ball and on debut gets a wicket off his maiden ball. Rahane has to department- Venky Iyer survives a chance as Santner drops him- Iyer gets another chance as Ashwani Kumar drops him as well- Third time not so lucky as Iyer falls to Chahar
Chahar to Venkatesh Iyer, out Caught by Rickelton!! The short ball has got the better of Venkatesh Iyer! It was always a good ploy to test
Boult to Venkatesh Iyer, no run, dropped! That was a really easy chance for the debuntant but he has spilled it! Some nerves on display. A shortish delivery and well outside off, Venkatesh Iyer glides it late but doesn't bother to keep it down. Ashwani Kumar at short third gets low and gets both his hands to it but it doesn't stick
Ashwani Kumar to Rahane, out Caught by Tilak Varma!! What a moment for the young man! Ashwani Kumar strikes off his first ball on his debut! For a moment, it looked like Tilak in the deep has lost it but he held his composure after that. A fuller length ball wide outside off, inviting Rahane to throw his bat at it and he does that. It flies towards deep backward point. Tilak goes at it with hard hands in the first attempt and it pops out. But, he shows good reflexes as he turns back, keeps his eyes on the ball and grabs it with his right hand.
Boult to Rahane, SIX, hit with authority! A back of a length delivery on middle and leg, Rahane swivels across and pulls it over long leg for a maximum. The length wasn't that short but Rahane got into a great position and helped it on its way
Chahar to de Kock, out Caught by Ashwani Kumar!! A match-winning knock in the last game but a failure tonight for de Kock! Body blow for KKR. de Kock walks down the track and Chahar bowls it on a length
Boult to Narine, out Bowled!! Knocked him over! Narine has a negative matchup against Boult and he has been caught all at sea here! Boult steams in and bowls a 136.2kph pitched up ball on middle and generates a good amount of away swing, Narine once again exposes his stumps to play an expansive shot but his bat is nowhere near the ball as he swings aimlessly. The middle stump is uprooted.
Boult to de Kock, no run, 129.4kph good length ball in the channel, shaping away,
Mumbai Indians won the toss, opt to bowl
The defending champions, KKR, suffered a loss in their campaign opener against RCB at home but bounced back in style against RR in Guwahati. Their bowlers got hammered in their first game against RCB but put in a collective performance against RR. Quinton de Kock stole the limelight with the bat against RR with a blistering 61-ball 97 to power his side to an emphatic victory. The fact that KKR have won five of their last six games against MI holds them in good stead for tonight. MI though boast of a 9-2 record against them at home. It should be a cracking contest! Toss and team lineups will be announced shortly...
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