IPL 2021 – Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians: Match preview

Find out team news, TV and streaming information, odds, weather forecasts and much, much more ahead of the fifth game of the new Indian Premier League season

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What’s the match?

Kolkata Knight Riders take on Mumbai Indians in the fifth match of the 2021 IPL.

When is it taking place?

The game is scheduled for 7.30pm IST (3pm BST) on Tuesday, Apil 13, 2021.

Where is the match being played?

Chennai’s M.A. Chidambaram Stadium will stage the game.

Who’s got the form?

Kolkata Knight Riders got their IPL campaign off to a winning start with a 10-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 10th. Top order duo Nitish Rana and Rahul Tripathi were the stars, scoring 80 (56 balls) and 53 (29), respectively, at the top of the order while Dinesh Karthik struck a destructive 22 off nine deliveries to push the score beyond 180.

Defending champions Mumbai Indians, however, were defeated by Royal Challengers Bangalore in the opening match of the 2021 tournament. Batting first, Mumbai posted a competitive 159 after falling victim to a Harshal Patel five-for. However, despite impressive performances with the ball from Jasprit Bumrah, Marco Jansen, and Krunal Pandya, they couldn’t defend the total and conceded defeat off the final ball.

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What are the odds?

Dafabet have Mumbai Indians as the favourites at 4/6, while KKR are available at 23/20 for the win.

Mumbai are also the favourites to lead the way after six overs, with odds fof 7/10, while the bookies are backing Rohit Sharma and co. to smash to hit most sixes, offering odds of 8/13. The odds of KKR hitting the most sixes are 17/10.

KKR opener Shubman Gill, who was dismissed for 13 against Sunrisers, is at 11/4 to be his side’s leading run-scorer while captain Sharma is at 12/5 to top score for Mumbai.

Who are the ones to watch?

Despite falling short of defending 159, it’s Mumbai’s bowlers who head into their next fixture with their stock high. Indian duo Jasprit Bumrah and Krunal Pandya were hugely economical, picking up a combined three wickets and conceding just 6.5 and 6.25 runs per over, respectively.

However, if you only want one player to focus on, make it Marco Jansen. The 20-year old, ranked 728th on the T20 Player Index,  was a surprise inclusion in the Mumbai squad, let alone in the starting XI, but boy did he have a debut to remember. The young South African picked up the wickets of Glenn Maxwell and Shahbaz Ahmed in the 15th over to temporarily stall RCB’s victory parade, and very nearly denied them at the death after being trusted to bowl the final over.

For KKR, top order batsman Rahul Tripathi is in destructive form. The 30-year old scored 53 runs at a strike rate of 182.76 as part of a second-wicket stand of 93 with Rana. He’s already scored as many half-centuries in 2021 as he did in 11 matches last year and looks in good touch.

Lower down the order, veteran wicketkeeper Karthik is always an eye-catcher while with the ball, Harbhajan Singh – who played his first match for 699 days against Sunrisers – is worth looking out for to see when he takes his first wicket of tournament.

What's the team news?

After spending Mumbai’s opening fixture in quarantine, wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock is available to face KKR and will likely be parachuted straight into the starting XI.

The South African scored 503 runs at a strike rate of 140.53 for the defending champions last season, including four 50+ knocks, 46 fours and 22 sixes. And, despite Chris Lynn performing admirably in his absence with a team-leading 49 runs off 35 deliveries, the Australian will likely find himself benched to make room for de Kock.

Mumbai allrounder Hardik Pandya, ranked second on the T20 Player Index, is still unable to bowl due to a shoulder problem but will likely be included again for his batting.

KKR, meanwhile, are unlikely to make any changes to the side which defeated Sunrisers on Sunday and will enter the match high on confidence after restricting Wriddhiman Saha and David Warner to single figure scores.

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What's the head to head record?

The two teams have played each other 27 times.

Mumbai Indians wins: 21

Kolkata Knight Riders wins: 6

What's the weather forecast?

Temperatures are expected to hover between 30 and 33 degrees Celsius with conditions forecast to be sunny and still.

Are fans allowed in?

No, this match will be played behind closed doors owing to the Covid-19 situation in India.

What’s the prediction?

It’s difficult to look beyond Mumbai Indians and their absolute dominance in this fixture over the previous 13 years. It may be closer than they’d like against a KKR side with the wind in their sails, but with de Kock in the XI and an excellent bowling attack, Mumbai should be too strong. 

IPL TEAM GUIDES

Chennai Super Kings

Delhi Capitals

Kolkata Knight Riders

Mumbai Indians

Punjab Kings

Rajasthan Royals

Royal Challengers Bangalore

Sunrisers Hyderabad

Where can I watch the game?

Sky Sports have the rights in the United Kingdom.

You can aso stream the tournament using the Disney+ Hotstar digital platform, though the matches are only available for VIP or Premium subscribers.

Star Sports have the television rights in India.

Streaming service YuppTV have acquired digital streaming rights in a host of markets, including Australia, continental Europe, Malaysia, Southeast Asia with the exception of Singapore, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives, Central Asia, and Central and South America.

In the USA, the games will be broadcast on Willow TV and the Willow TV website. Fox Sports have the broadcasting rights in Australia, while Supersport will televise the games in South Africa. In the Caribbean, Flow TV have the rights.

The following broadcasters owning the rights for their respective regions:

Bangladesh: Channel 9

Afghanistan: Lemar TV

Malaysia: Measat

MENA/UAE: BeIN Sport

Hong Kong: Now TV

Singapore: SingTel

New Zealand: Sky Sport

Papua New Guinea: EMTV

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What are the squads?

Kolkata Knight Riders squad: Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan, Pat Cummins, Rahul Tripathi, Varun Chakravarthy, Pawan Negi, Tim Seifert, Shakib al Hasan, Sheldon Jackson, Vaibhav Arora, Karun Nair, Harbhajan Singh, Ben Cutting, Venkatesh Iyer

Mumbai Indians squad: Rohit Sharma, Aditya Tare, Anmolpreet Singh, Anukul Roy, Dhawal Kulkarni, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Quinton de Kock, Rahul Chahar, Suryakumar Yadav, Chris Lynn, Mohsin Khan, Saurabh Tiwary, Trent Boult, Adam Milne, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, James Neeshan, Yudhvir Charak, Marco Jansen, Arjun Tendulkar

What are the likely starting XIs?

KKR: Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Shakib al Hasan, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Harbhajan Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Marco Jansen, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah

IPL 2021 squads

IPL 2021 fixtures

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Our coverage of the IPL is brought to you in association with Dafabet India. For more on Dafabet and to place a bet, click here

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