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Two teams who have started the second phase in contrasting fashion are set to lock horns as the defending champions, Mumbai Indians lock horns with Kolkata Knight Riders.

KKR put up an exemplary performance as they beat one of the IPL favorites and Virat Kohli's Royal Challengers Bangalore. It was not just a triumph but a win that must have pumped up the franchise's adrenaline as they commenced the final half of the season in such fashion.

For Mumbai, things started brightly in the second phase too as took down Chennai's star-studded batting lineup inside the powerplay but kudos to Ruturaj Gaikwad who stole the show with his exceptional innings of 88*.

As things stand, Mumbai stand fourth with eight points, while Kolkata are sixth with six points. A win against Mumbai will see them climb up to fourth due to a superior net run-rate than both Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals.

Can Kolkata Knight Riders continue with their momentum? Or will the champions commence their road to another comeback?

Match Toss Time: 17:30 Local (19:00 IST)

Match Start Time: 18:00 Local (19:30 IST)

Match Venue:  Sheikh Zayed International Stadium, Abu Dhabi

Head to Head

Matches Played: 28, MI: 22, KKR: 6

Weather Conditions and Pitch

MI vs KKR fantasy weather and pitch

Team News

Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya will be returning to the starting XI, replacing Anmolpreet Singh and Saurabh Tiwary.

Kolkata Knight Riders would be happy to roll the same playing Xl that took the field against RCB.

Probable Playing XI 

Mumbai Indians (MI): Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya/ Saurabh Tiwary, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Adam Milne, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult.

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR): Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (c), Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Sunil Narine/ Shakib Al Hasan, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna.

Must Picks

Rohit Sharma,  Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, and Varun Chakravarthy are must-picks. Leaving out Andre Russell could hurt a lot of people too.

Shubman Gill is a unique player to have in the team as well. He started the second phase well and it seems he'll continue. 

Key Stats

#MI skipper Rohit Sharma is just 20 runs away from reaching 5500 runs in the IPL. The 34-year old, if he manages to reach the milestone, could be only the 3rd player to do so in the league.

#KKR's former skipper Dinesh Karthik finds himself 54 runs short of the 4000 runs mark. Karthik will become only the 11th player to achieve the feat. Can he do it in style against the most successful team in the IPL?

#In the last 10 meetings between them, KKR have just managed to win 1 match against Mumbai Indians making the team one of their worst nightmares. However, MI seem to be struggling to get the winning mojo, and KKR on the other hand showed great character in the match against RCB. Can KKR improve their win ratio against the mighty MI? 

MI vs KKR fantasy team

MI vs KKR fantasy team IPL
Cricwizz fantasy team

Captain and Vice-captain Picks 

Rohit Sharma Andre Russell IPL fantasy
Rohit Sharma (C) and Andre Russell (Vc)

Prediction 

With Mumbai Indians desperate for a win already, and with the return of Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya, Mumbai Indians seem to be the favorites. The h2h record between the two speaks the same and Kolkata will have to produce something unprecedented to prevail over the defending champions.

Cricwizz predicts Mumbai Indians to win the match and replace RCB from the 3rd position.

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