After a poor performance against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), a game in which they were bowled out for under 130, Kolkata recovered well to get to better of the Punjab Kings (PBKS). In-form pacer Umesh Yadav yet again stood out with figures of 4 for 23. Tim Southee has provided him excellent support while the spin duo of Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine continue to throttle opponents.
There are no changes expected in the playing XI. However, opener Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish Rana need to score some runs after three failures. Ajinkya Rahane too has gone off the boil after an impressive start. Shreyas Iyer has led the team well but bigger contributions will be expected of him with the bat.
KKR predicted XI: Ajinkya Rahane, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Sam Billings (wk), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Shivam Mavi, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy
Barring Jasprit Bumrah, MI’s bowling was punished by Jos Buttler in the match against RR. This is something the team will need to be wary of. They need to have five quality bowlers in the line-up. Ishan Kishan has been brilliant in both the games so far while Tilak Varma made a serious impact against RR. Suryakumar Yadav is set to play and his presence will make a difference.
MI predicted XI: Rohit Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Kieron Pollard, Tim David, Daniel Sams, Murugan Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Tymal Mills, Jaydev Unadkat
Top fantasy picks for KKR vs MI clash: Shreyas Iyer, Andre Russell, Umesh Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Jasprit Bumrah
--Renin Wilben Albert