KOL vs MI Dream11 Prediction: Kolkata Knight Riders are late to join the party with each team having already played a match. They will be taking on the defending champions Mumbai Indians at Abu Dhabi. Mumbai Indians boasts of a dominant win record against Kolkata Knight Riders with 19 wins from 25 games. MI would look at continuing the record especially after they lost the tournament’s first match once again. With the presence of T20 stars like Rohit, Bumrah, Pandya, Pollard, Russell, Morgan and Narine, this one should make for an exciting contest.

In 2019, KKR finished at the 5th spot failing to qualify for the play-offs. The lack of support for Russell and the failure to take many wickets cost them a lot. They had a pretty good auction in 2020 buying the likes of Cummins, Morgan, Varun C, R Tripathi, C Green and some others. Morgan, Cummins and Banton are all available for the first match after the completion of their quarantine. How they can adapt to the wind and the long boundaries in Abu Dhabi will play a key role in today’s match against MI.

Mumbai Indians have kept their trend of losing the first match of the tournament intact and would look to win this game against their favourite opponents KKR. In their last match against CSK, the middle order collapsed and Bumrah endured a torrid start to the 2020 IPL campaign.  Nathan Coulter-Nile who wasn’t selected in the first match due to some niggles was seen bowling in the nets but it would be a tough call to leave out Pattinson who did no wrong in his debut IPL match.

Pitch report

The last match played at Abu Dhabi between MI and CSK produced a 160 run contest. The wicket was a bit tacky due to the watering of the surface to hold the grass. The ball tends to move a little under lights at Abu Dhabi while the wickets are slow and low in nature but don’t turn much. Dew is expected during the 2nd innings with humidity levels peaking high.

KKR vs MI Dream11 Prediction

Possible KOL Playing 11 –
S Gill
R Tripathi
N Rana
E Morgan
A Russell
D Karthik (C & WK)
K Nagarkoti
S Narine
P Cummins
S Narine
S Warrier
Let’s take a look at some best picks for KOL vs MI Dream11 Prediction
S Gill – He’s all set to open the batting for the Knight Riders this season which makes him an exciting fantasy prospect. He is equally good against both pace and spin. His 76(45) against Mumbai Indians last year is an indicator of his quality against this bowling attack.
A Russell – Russell has been a key contributor for KKR since 2018. Apart from Bumrah, there aren’t many bowlers in this set-up who can trouble Dre Russ and the talks about promoting him up the order help his case.
S Narine – He might not open the innings against MI vary of the Bumrah threat but his bowling skills are enough to rake in points. Apart from Pandya, he has troubled every other MI batsman and the conditions in UAE should help him.
P Cummins – He’s the latest millionaire out of the IPL auction with KKR snatching him up for 13 crores and is a sure starter. His hit the deck bowling coupled with the big square boundaries in Abu Dhabi makes him a threat during the middle-overs.

Possible MI Playing 11 –
R Sharma (C)
Q De Kock (WK)
SA Yadav
S Tiwary
K Pollard
K Pandya
H Pandya
J Pattinson
R Chahar
T Boult
J Bumrah

Let’s take a look at some best picks for KOL vs MI Dream11 Today Match Prediction
Q De Kock– Having been raised in S Africa, he is a good player against raw pace and KKR will field 3 of them. His wicket-keeping points are a bonus.
H Pandya – H Pandya’s record against KKR reads as 245 runs at an average of 81.67 with a strike-rate of 202.48. Cummins and Nagarkoti to an extent can trouble him but he will definitely take on their spinners.
R Sharma – He would love to face KKR’s pace attack consisting of Cummins, Nagarkoti and Warrier but the presence of Narine and Kuldeep drops his fantasy value.
J Bumrah – The last match was an odd off-day for J Bumrah. But his ability to come back elevates him up the fantasy order.

KKR vs MI Dream11 Team Match-Ups

Contrasting fortunes of Mumbai Indians batsman against pace

KKR are more likely to field a pace trio of Cummins, Nagarkoti and S Warrier all capable of hitting the 140s. Add Russell to the list and it’s a proper pace attack albeit without variety. How MI counter these pacers will be a big factor in deciding the match. In the below graphic, we can see De Kock, Rohit and Hardik dominating the pacers but Yadav, Krunal and Pollard struggling against them.

D Karthik – The finisher

D Karthik had a stellar 2018 season for KKR often coming in at the 10^th over and finishing off the matches but the promotion of Gill at the top reduced his game-time in 2019. He has a high probability of batting at the death today and his numbers against Bumrah and Boult, MI’s two death bowlers should excite you.

KOL vs MI Dream11 Team Captain, Differential Picks

Team Composition Preferences –

1). All Rounders – Pick as many as you can especially the pace bowling all-rounders.
2). Batsman – Target good players of pace bowling and mix them up with some spin power-hitters.
3). Bowlers – Go for high-end hit the pacers like Bumrah, Cummins and Pattinson. Try not to pick many spinners.
4). Wicket-Keeper – Q De Kock should be your primary choice here.

Having more MI players in the KOL vs MI Dream11 Match Prediction team is preferable.

Captaincy Picks –

Go with the top-order batsman listed in the fantasy ranking order as one of your captains or choose from the two destructive all-rounders in Russell and H Pandya. Selecting one of the pacers as captain could be a differential choice too.

Differential Picks –

R Tripathi – He is as destructive as they come against fast bowlers in the PowerPlays and with MI bowling the likes of Boult, Pattinson and Bumrah at the PowerPlay he can pull off a certain cameo.

SA Yadav– His game against raw pace isn’t as bad as some other Indian players and that he bats in the middle-overs helps him feel home against the spinners.

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