KKR vs MI MPL Team: Kolkata Knight Riders, having seen all their fellow Indian Premier League Contenders in action in the opening 4 games of the cash-rich league, are set to start their campaign against defending champions Mumbai Indians in Abu Dhabi today. KKR and MI are two of the most popular teams in the tournament and why won’t they be, MI have won 4 titles while KKR have won the gold twice. Also, their owners are quite popular, Mumbai are owned by the Ambanis while Shah Rukh Khan is the face of Kolkata. History is in favor of MI as they have beaten KKR 19 out of the 25 times the two teams have met but KKR have made some solid additions to their squad and MI were beaten in their last match and they are clumsy starters, so expect a close one here, like the 4 matches we have had so far.

KOL vs MUM MPL Prediction 

Fixture: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians, Match 5, IPL 2020
Date: Wednesday, 23rd September 2020
Time: 7:30 PM (IST); 6:00 PM (Local Time)
Venue: Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Pitch Report: The pitch at Abu Dhabi is sluggish and that was quite evident in the tournament opener. But the interesting fact was that apart from Piyush Chawla (economy of 5.25) all the other spinners Ravindra Jadeja, Krunal Pandya and Rahul Chahar were expensive going for more than 9 runs per over. It seems the pitch would remain the same and fast bowlers will be effective with their cutters and slower bouncers. Average total is around 150, expect it to go up considering the hitters that are on display.

KKR vs MI MPL Team, Playing XIs, Mega Contest

Team News KKR: Kolkata have all the options available, Sunil Narine had injury problems during the recently concluded CPL but is expected to play the contest. Also, young speedsters, Shivam Mavi and Kamlesh Nagarkoti have entered the tournament injury-free.
Team News MI: Nathan Coulter-Nile, who missed the first game, returned to training and is likely to replace Pattinson as Coulter-Nile is handy with the bat too.
Expected Change: Nathan Coulter-Nile replacing James Pattinson in MI line-up is the only expected change. KKR are yet to play a game so have all the options open for this KKR vs MI MPL Fantasy Cricket Tips.

KKR Playing XI (Predicted)

1 Shubman Gill
2 Sunil Narine
3 Nitish Rana
4 Eoin Morgan
5 Dinesh Karthik (capt, wk)
6 Andre Russell
7 Rahul Tripathi/Rinku Singh
8 Pat Cummins
9 Kuldeep Yadav
10 Kamlesh Nagarkoti
11 Prasidh Krishna

MI Playing XI (Predicted)

1 Rohit Sharma (capt)
2 Quinton de Kock (wk)
3 Suryakumar Yadav
4 Saurabh Tiwary
5 Kieron Pollard
6 Hardik Pandya
7 Krunal Pandya
8 James Pattinson/Nathan Coulter-Nile
9 Rahul Chahar
10 Trent Boult
11 Jasprit Bumrah    

KKR vs MI MPL Fantasy Cricket Tips

Captain Choices

Quinton De Kock: The South African smasher was looking in great form before he fell to a Sam Curran’s cutter in the first match against CSK. His innings of 33 had 5 crisp boundaries in it and it felt as if he had been batting without any break. He always scores at a good pace and being a keeper is expected to be involved in at least a couple of dismissals.
Sunil Narine: This man gets maximum chance to score maximum points. He is a certainty to bowl his quota of 4 overs and is a threat opening with the bat. However, his record with bat against MI is poor with only 32 runs in 8 innings but all he needs is 10-15 balls to go berserk. But still, he remains a top pick and can be used either as captainor vice captain in KKR vs MI Today Match Prediction teams.

Vice-Captain Choices

Rohit Sharma: The captain of Mumbai Indians is one of the best batters in the tournament and after his failure in the first match he would be desperate to make his mark early in the competition. Players of his class don’t fail twice in a row and expect him to have a say in this match.
Nitish Rana: Indian batters are having a feast in IPL-13, it was Ambati Rayudu in the first match, Mayank Agarwal in the second and Sanju Samson last night and that’s why we have Rana in the list. He is dangerous with the bat and plays with no fear. He is quite handy with his off-spinners too.

X-Factors

Andre Russell: He hits the ball hardest and farthest than any player who has played IPL so far. The impact he had last season with the bat (510 runs, 56 average, 204 strike-rate, 52 sixes) can never be forgotten. Plus, he can bowl in the high 140s. He is the synonym of x-facor!

Hardik Pandya: If KKR have Russell, MI have Hardik Pandya. Yes, Pandya failed with the bat against CSK (3) and didn’t even bowl a single ball, but that can’t undermine the fact that he is born to play T20s. Look out for him as he is can be lethal with the bat, ball and in the field.

MPL Most Affordable Players

Prasidh Krishna (Credits 8): The tall fast bowler was highly impressive last season playing 11 matches for KKR but unfortunately, he could only pick 4 wickets in total. He is due some wickets and this could be his year.

Shubman Gill (Credits 8.5): There has been a lot of talk about Gill playing as a permanent opener. With Chris Lynn out of the side, the onus is on the young talented batsman to show he is worth the hype.

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