Playing XI
Venue Insights (Abu Dhabi)
Highest Team Total: 206/4 By Punjab Against Chennai In 2014.
Lowest Team Total: 70/10 By Bangalore Against Rajasthan In 2014.
Highest Individual Score: 95 By Glenn Maxwell (Punjab) Against Chennai In 2014.
Best Bowling Figures: 4/20 By Sunil Narine (Kolkata) Against Mumbai In 2014.
Highest Partnership: 131 By Jacques Kallis And Manish Pandey (Kolkata) For 2nd Wicket Against Mumbai In 2014.
Win Rate Batting First: 60% (6 Won; 4 Lost)
Top Fantasy Picks - All Rounders
Hardik’s batting average against Kolkata is 66 and SR of 196. He has not been bowling this season, but Mumbai might make him bowl as in the 11 matches that he has played against Kolkata, he has taken 11 wickets.
Pollard has been scoring quick fire cameos down the order for Mumbai and interestingly has been dismissed only once so far this season.
Dre Russ has picked up crucial wickets for Kolkata this season and with Narine’s absence, he might get more overs under his belt. With 6 wickets he is the highest wicket taker for Kolkata this season.
Top Fantasy Picks - Bowlers
With 11 wickets he is the joint highest wicket taker for Mumbai Indians. Bumrah has a good record against Kolkata batsmen such as Gill, Rana, Karthik and Russell. Also in his last 6 matches against Kolkata he has taken 9 wickets.
With figures of 1/42 and 3/29 this season, Prasidh is certainly a bowler who can come in cheaply in your fantasy team and give you good returns in terms of points.
Just like Bumrah, he also has taken 11 wickets this season (joint highest for Mumbai). A look at his bowling in his 3 IPL matches against Kolkata: 2/30, 2/44 and 2/29.
Top Fantasy Picks - Batsmen & Keepers
Rohit Sharma has a stellar record against Kolkata in the IPL. He has scored 904 runs against Kolkata in the IPL which is the highest by a player against any IPL team.
With 254 runs, Shubman Gill is the highest run getter for Kolkata this season. Also, out of these 254 runs, 145 have come alone at Abu Dhabi, the venue where today’s match is going to happen.
With back to back fifties, Surya is looking in good rhythm. A look at his scores in the IPL against his former team Kolkata: 47, 46*, 26, 36 and 59.
Probable XI
Mumbai : Quinton de Kock (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, James Pattinson, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult
Kolkata : Rahul Tripathi, Shubman Gill, Tom Banton, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik (c&wk), Andre Russell, Nitish Rana, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna and Pat Cummins
Preview
A team with 5 resounding wins, Mumbai, is taking on a unit which will feel lucky to have won 2 of 4 games - Kolkata, in Abu Dhabi. The defending champions have looked the team to beat. Losing only to Chennai and almost winning from a hopeless situation against Bangalore shows their steel resolve. Everyone in the batting order is amongst the runs, with tremendous strike rates. The bowling attack too has done well, though Boult being a bit too expensive might just be a concern. Kolkata, on the other hand, have had just two batsmen scoring as per T20 norms - Tripathi and Morgan. Gill has got the runs but not the strike rate while the rest, including Russell, have simply not turned up. The bowling attack looks inexperienced with Cummins out of form, Narine accused of a suspect bowling action and Russell unfit. The odds are completely against them but things could get interesting if they win the toss and bat first.
Mumbai at Abu Dhabi : Played 6, Won 4, Lost 2
Kolkata at Abu Dhabi : Played 7, Won 4, Lost 3
Toss : Kolkata won the toss and elected to bat first.