The second round of matches in the Indian Premier League season kicks off at Eden Gardens where the last two champions meet in a heavyweight battle as the Kolkata Knight Riders host the Mumbai Indians.
Kolkata got their campaign off to the perfect start in their opening match with a convincing drubbing of the Delhi Daredevils while Mumbai Indians were upstaged by the Rising Pune Supergiants in the opening match of the event.
Kolkata Knight Riders
The Knight Riders rode the back of their bowlers in their opening match and when you think there was no Sunil Narine nor Morne Morkel in that match and they also left Shakib-al-Hasan on the sidelines too there has to be plenty more to come from the 2014 champions.
Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir both looked at ease with the bat but the bowling credentials of Andre Russell, Bradley Hogg and Piyush Chawla bamboozled the opposition on a turning track and the three are likely to be crucial here too.
Mumbai Indians
The 2015 winners have a habit of starting seasons quite slowly and they are in danger of doing that again. They needn’t panic though. Last season they lost their first four matches but still hit form at the right time to make it through to the final and win it. It is a trend they will want to end though.
Mumbai’s batting just wasn’t at the races in the opening match and they were blown away in the first 10 overs. Harbhajan Singh offered some resistance down the order but when he is having to save you the day is done anyway pretty much. The top order needs to stand and deliver.
Team news
With Sunil Narine only arriving back in India on the eve of this match he is unlikely to play here so I would imagine that Kolkata Knight Riders will remain unchanged unless they want to get Shakib into their side.
Mumbai Indians will surely make changes after their debacle in the first match. Parthiv Patel practiced like a man who could come into the side. That could mean Rohit Sharma slips down the order like he has done in the past or either Lendl Simmons or Corey Anderson could make way.
Form
Kolkata Knight Riders: W
Mumbai Indians: L
Head to head: Kolkata Knight Riders 5-11 Mumbai Indians
At Eden Gardens: Kolkata Knight Riders 2-4 Mumbai Indians
Eden Gardens
We’ve seen one match here in the tournament and it was a raging Bunsen burner. I just wonder whether that was because the T20 World Cup finals were played there and the turnaround wasn’t long but there hasn’t been much time between that last game and this one so conditions should be quite similar.
This ground isn’t the biggest in the country by any means but if the ball doesn’t come on to the bat as well then it might be difficult to clear the ropes which is something the batsmen of both sides will have to take into account.
Betting
I toyed with a few bets in this match. I considered the unders in the boundaries which on a tired wicket should come in although the last match never had either team scoring 100 but it still had 26 boundaries which suggests batsmen will get runs for their shots on a fast outfield.
Another bet I considered was Rohit Sharma’s runs line. He has a good record against the Knight Riders, especially at Eden Gardens but I’m not sure where he is going to bat and he is better on truer wickets than I’m expecting here.
In the end I’m going to take the home side to win the game. I think Kolkata Knight Riders are better suited to this wicket. They have as many spinners as they want to use in their ranks. In the opening match they went with Hogg and Chawla but they have Shakib on standby not to mention the likes of Yusuf Pathan who can bowl spin too.
Mumbai aren’t really set up like that. Their better bowlers tend to be seamers but seamers don’t really get much out of this wicket unless they are express pace or get plenty of bounce and Mumbai’s don’t and Harbhajan aside there isn’t much spin in their attack.
The Indians probably have more power with their batting but that is no good without some glue for them to bat around as we saw in the first game and with a nice balance to their batting line up and excellent variety with the ball I’m favouring the home side here.
Tips
Back Kolkata Knight Riders to beat Mumbai Indians for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with Boylesports
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