The 32nd Match of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 will be played between the Mumbai Indians (MI) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Friday. MI has managed to win five games out of seven matches, while KKR has secured four from seven contests so far in the IPL 2020.
An explosive batting line-up and a lethal bowling attack for slog overs will give defending champions Mumbai a definitive edge over Kolkata on Friday. MI is on a roll having won their last four matches, while there are problems aplenty for KKR, who suffered a huge loss of 82 runs in their last game. Mumbai Indians are thus unlikely to make any changes in their playing XI.
For KKR, questions remain as to whether their key spinner Sunil Narine, who has been once reported for suspect bowling action, will be available for feature in the team or not. He had missed the game against RCB even as KKR hoped for an “early resolution” to the issues surrounding his controversial action.
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In the event of Narine missing out again, Mumbai will fancy their chances even more at the Sheikh Zayed stadium, where skipper Rohit Sharma has scored both his half-centuries this season.
Mumbai Indians (MI)
James Pattinson has emerged as a surprising match-winner for the captain and the coach enough as the third pacer. While details are still awaited over Nathan Coulter-Nile’s recovery, there isn’t much scope or need for the defending champions to experiment. They are likely to feild the same to their previous XI.
Probable XI: Quinton de Kock (wk), Rohit Sharma (C), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, James Pattinson, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)
Uncertainty looms over Narine’s availability. If KKR continues to persist with Tom Banton, the headache of their batting line-up will continue and the in-form Rahul Tripathi may have to continue batting at No. 7. With the fast bowlers doing well in Abu Dhabi, however, there could be a case for including Lockie Ferguson, which would also give them an opportunity to add an extra bowling option.
Probable XI: Shubhman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik (C, wk), Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Varun Chakravarthy, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna/Kuldeep Yadav
