IPL 5 – Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders – Match Preview
Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be up against each other today in the 65th fixture of the fifth season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
This is an extremely crucial encounter for both the teams as Mumbai and KKR are closely tied up on the points table and the winner of this match will secure a place in the play-offs of the tournament. On top of that, finishing in the top-two teams is going
to be a massive advantage for any side as it gives them two chances in the elimination part of the tournament.
At the present moment, Mumbai is at number two on the points table with 18 points after 14 matches and looks to be one of the favourites to clinch the title as it has won a number of close matches in the tournament, which goes to show that the franchise
does not succumb under pressure.
The Indians struggled in the middle of the tournament with loss of form and injuries to key players like Sachin Tendulkar, Kieron Pollard and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Harbhajan-Singh-c61453 and company seem to be peaking at the right time, which is great news for
the owners.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RG-Sharma-c2309 scored a fantastic hundred against KKR in their previous match last week and he is surely the player to watch out for in today’s game because of his ability to make a strong impression in big matches. The stylish right-handed batsman is considered
to be one of the most talented players in the present-day cricket but he is yet to fulfill his potential. However, one thing is for sure that Rohit holds the key in crunch matches for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mumbai-c820.
One of the most underrated players of the tournament has been the middle-order batsman from Mumbai, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ambati-Rayudu-c1007, who has been nothing less than a revelation for the franchise. Whenever the chips have been down for Mumbai, the right-hander has come to rescue
his team, which proves that he is a class act and deserves a chance to be playing international cricket for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750. Considering the fact that Rayudu has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket, makes his case stronger.
Rayudu, who along with http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KA-Pollard-c1754, won the previous match for Mumbai against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) from hopeless circumstances, expressed that he was given the confidence to deliver the goods by the batting maestro
and his teammate, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/SR-Tendulkar-c2556.
"He had told me during the match that if I bat for 20 overs, I'd win the match. When I returned, he caught hold of me and said, 'I had told you so'," said Rayudu.
On the other side of the coin, KKR has dropped down to the third spot on the points table after a couple of defeats and has 17 points after 14 encounters. However, KKR has played some brilliant cricket in the tournament so far and
one expects http://www.senore.com/Cricket/G-Gambhir-c1447 and company to fight back to the winning ways.
“With the kind of cricket we are playing, hopefully we can turn it around pretty soon. If we go and win one more we may go to the top. It's just a matter of playing each game as it comes," the KKR skipper expressed.
After the defeat off the hands of Mumbai last week, KKR has a score to settle and one can expect yet another last-over finish, in a tournament which has already produced countless thrillers.
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