Riding high on their recent success, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be eager to maintain their dominance at home when they face Mumbai Indians (MI) at Eden Gardens on Friday. The Knight Riders have ascended to the top of the table and will be keen to extend their winning streak, having thrashed Lucknow Super Giants in their last outing.
MI, on the other hand, managed to end their four-match losing streak against Sunrisers Hyderabad. However, they remain out of contention for a top-four finish. KKR will be reliant on their formidable opening pair of Phil Salt and Sunil Narine, backed by a bowling unit featuring Harshit Rana and Varun Chakravarthy.
MI’s batting will be spearheaded by the in-form Suryakumar Yadav, who smacked a century in their previous match. The head-to-head record between the two teams heavily favors MI, with 23 wins out of 33 encounters. However, KKR emerged victorious in their last meeting this season.
The Eden Gardens pitch has traditionally been a batting paradise, with high-scoring matches expected. The venue has witnessed more successful chases than successful defenses in the first six matches of the season. KKR will be wary of Punjab Kings’ successful chase of 262 runs against them at the same venue earlier this season.
Fantasy XI enthusiasts may consider a combination of players from both teams, including Phil Salt, Sunil Narine, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Verma, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, and Mitchell Starc.
