We have one more match from the Indian Premier League on Wednesday afternoon and once again it is a huge match for the Mumbai Indians. They head to Eden Gardens to face the Kolkata Knight Riders knowing they have to win to keep their season alive.
It is no small match for the Knight Riders either though. Defeat here would leave them with more defeats than wins and that is never a position a team want to be in so there is plenty on the line in this one.
Kolkata Knight Riders
The Kolkata side looked to be cruising towards the playoffs and while they are still in a decent enough position it won’t take much for them to be caught and overtaken in the race for the top four. Indeed were Mumbai to win this match but a significant margin it could be them who move above the Knight Riders.
If Kolkata are going to finish the season with a flourish and guarantee their top four status then they are going to have to find ways of getting the job done with the ball. You would think the pitches at Eden Gardens would be slow and low to assist their spinners but that hasn’t been the case and that has not helped them.
Mumbai Indians
This season was going absolutely nowhere for the Mumbai Indians but after they surprised the Kings XI Punjab they then built on that with a win over the Knight Riders at the weekend and a third win on the bounce will have everyone believing that once again they can come from nowhere to challenge strongly for this competition.
The key to the recent revival has been their discovery of getting the job done at the death with the ball while their key batsmen are starting to power up. That is never a bad combination. They head to Eden Gardens knowing they have a very good record on this ground and an even better one against this opponent.
Team News
Mitchell Johnson is no longer scaring batsmen so it could be that Tom Curran makes a return for this match. His variety might be better utilised in this one. You would think Sunil Narine will go back up the order for the Knight Riders. Twice they’ve dropped him down and twice it hasn’t worked.
Mumbai Indians are expected to be unchanged from the comfortable win at the weekend. That is unless there is a late injury or illness which hasn’t been identified.
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Betting
I am tempted to back the Mumbai Indians in this match but sides who choose to bowl, which is the default setting here, are 8-4 for the last 12 matches on this ground so I’m a bit put off by that. I’ll have no hesitation in getting on them if they win the toss though.
Before then however I will head for the boundaries market. This is a ground which has seen a huge number of boundaries this season. There have been five matches here in this campaign and the boundary count has totalled 48, 33, 47, 48 and 51. The 33 was when the Sunrisers were in town which explains that one. With that in mind I’m surprised the line is 44.5 here. There were 51 boundaries between these two sides at the Wankhede on Sunday and I’m expecting something similar here.
Tips
WON – Back Over 44.5 boundaries for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with William Hill
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