KKR are currently placed at the 9th spot on the points table
Five-time champions Mumbai Indians, who have shown glimpses of brilliance in the last two games, are all set to take on the Kolkata Knight Riders, who are hanging by a thread at the DY Patil Stadium on Monday.
For Mumbai Indians, there is not much at stake. They have already crashed out of season. But with four games to go for them, they can certainly spoil the league for other teams.
Kolkata Knight Riders have three games left in the group stage. Even if they manage to win all three, they will still have to rely on other results to go in their favour.
KKR vs MI - Head to Head
- Overall matches: 30
- Mumbai Indians: 22
- Kolkata Knight Riders: 8
- MI: 3
- KKR: 2
- KKR: 1
- MI: 0
Also Read: Venkatesh and Chakravarthy: The fallen Knights who fell prey to the chaos in KKR
Nonetheless, when these two teams take on each other, both dug-outs will have some match-ups in mind. These are the player battles to watch out for when MI take on KKR.
Aaron Finch vs Tim Southee
Tim Southee is known to swing the ball when he opens the attack for any team. If there is even a hint of movement on offer, Southee will make full use of it. On the other hand, Finch is not really comfortable against the moving ball. His struggles are well-documented when there's swing on offer.
It'll be exciting to see the battle between these two as Southee will look to get ball to nip back in, while Finch will try and counter the movement with his footwork.
Russell vs Bumrah
The battle between these two behemoths has blockbuster written all over it. Particulary when these two collide durig the death overs. Bumrah has dismissed Russell 3 times and have concieved 56 runs off 42 balls.
Russell's power is in no need of any introduction. He is arguably the most dangerous batsman to bowl at during that stage of the innings. Bumrah, however, is not easy to put away.
His yorkers, length balls, bouncers, slower deliveries are all very accurate, and Russell will have to be at his absolute best to smack Bumrah around.
Rohit Sharma vs Sunil Narine
Both these superstars haven't been at their best in the ongoing seaosn of the IPL, and that has had a direct impact on the points table.
Nonetheless, it will be a treat to watch these two battle it out. Rohit may not have scored a bucket-load of runs, but one cannot argue about how well he is timing the ball.
That was on full display in their last match as he raced away to a quickfire 43. Narine has been off-color this season, but with so much at stake for KKR on Monday, he will look to be at his absolute best.
