IPL 2021, Match 05, April 13th KKR vs MI, MA Chidambaram Stadium. Preview KKR vs MI in IPL 2021, head to head player stats, records of both Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians at this venue plus the best Dream11 predictions KKR vs MI.
Key match stats KKR vs MI
Venue
- Average first innings score at the MA Chidambaram Stadium: 163.50
- Average first innings winning score at MA Chidambaram Stadium: 173.82
- Average powerplay score at MA Chidambaram Stadium: 46.54
- All-time win % batting 1st vs batting 2nd: 58.62% vs 39.66%
Find full venue stats and records here
Team form KKR vs MI
- KKR – W
- MI – L
- Previous meetings: IPL 2020, MI won by 49runs & MI won by 8 wickets
IPL 2021 KKR vs MI Preview
Here we preview 2 teams with very contrasting fortunes in their opening games.
It really isn’t any great surprise that MI lost their opening fixture as they are notoriously slow starters but as with many great tournament sides they do tend to ensure that they peak at the right time. Still with the IPL being such a competitive league back to back defeats might just start to sow a little bit of doubt into the minds of the reigning champions about their ability to make it 3 in a row and you’d imagine we’ll get a reaction from them here today.
As for KKR, things couldn’t really have gone any better in their opening match. The 2 areas of concern from last season’s IPL were runs and wickets in the powerplay and KKR managed both against a very strong SRH team. Anyone who has listened to KKR coach Brendon McCullum of late will have heard how bullish he is about his side’s chances in IPL 2021 and with a start like that it looks to be more than just hot air.
KKR vs MI head to head player stats
KKR bowling vs MI batting
As we can see from the team form above, the previous couple of meetings of KKR vs MI have finished as very comfortable wins for the men in blue and gold. On both occasions, KKR struggled to make early inroads into this much-vaunted Mumbai batting line-up ( just 1 powerplay wicket in those 2 games from last season’s IPL) and as a result, MI cruised home without having to use their ample hitting power in the lower middle order.
It will be interesting to see whether KKR choose to stay with Harbhajan Singh for this game vs MI after the experienced spinner bowled just a solitary over in the opening match. They do have depth on the bench in regards to bowlers including Shivam Mavi who took respectable figures vs MI in IPL 2020.
In their opening game of IPL 2021 against RCB, it looked like MI were on course to build a score of 170+ before falling away badly in the final part of their innings and letting Kohli’s RCB back into the game. It’d be a major surprise if that were to continue to happen and of course, if they do need to utilise them then MI have a couple of the best death over strikers in the IPL, with Hardik Pandya, in particular, having an excellent record against this KKR bowling line-up. The below shows Pandya’s cumulative head to head IPL record against all of KKR’s current bowlers
Eoin Morgan, as he likes to do, threw a bit of a curve ball at us in the opening match of IPL 2021 by using Krishna in the powerplay and saving Cummins for later in the innings, the reverse of many thought would be the case. Perhaps the biggest plus for KKR though was that Andre Russell was able to bowl and bowl well at the death. If he remains fit then KKR look to have a lot of complimentary bowling options to choose from.
There are a couple of KKR’s spinners who have a positive record vs MI as we can see below. Despite top-scoring for MI in their opening fixture, Chris Lynn looked all at sea against the leg-spin of Chahal and you’d imagine that he will be replaced by Quinton de Kock for this fixture. If not, then we may see him struggle again on this slow Chennai wicket especially given his head to head record against the likes of Shakib Al-Hassan.
MI bowling vs KKR batting
One of the key points in MI’s opening game defeat was the injury to Hardik Pandya that prevented him from bowling. As soon as I saw that he was unable to throw the ball in from the deep and therefore highly unlikely to bowl, I placed a fairly large bet on RCB to win the match. We’ll never know what might have transpired had Hardik have been able to bowl but I think the slowness of the surface at the MA Chidambaram Stadium would have suited his cutters and MI might well have come away with a win had he have had the ball in hand. at some point during the RCB innings.
If he is unable to bowl again in this game then one man who will be mightly relieved is Shubman Gill who has been dismissed by Pandya 3 times from just 5 deliveries!
KKR’s top order and in particular Nitish Rana got them off to a flier in the game against SRH. It was noticeable that neither Buvi nor Sandeep Sharma managed to swing the ball up front and SRH are without any real pace or hit the deck bowlers to compensate when that happens. Against MI, KKR are likely to be tested far more in that regard with Bumrah and Jansen having bowled well against RCB.
KKR’s strength is of course in their middle to lower order and if they come off then it will be a sight to behold. Match-ups such as Bumrah vs Russell at the death are why the IPL remains the premier T20 league and in that particular regard, the Indian quick has the upper hand with his ability to bowl the yorker but also cramp up Russell with a few short ones into his body, a tactic that has worked well in the past.
Find full KKR vs MI IPL 2021 head to head stats here
