Mumbai to return to winning ways against KKR

Kolkata Knight Riders kick off their IPL campaign with a tough test against last year’s champions the Mumbai Indians. If the first meeting between these two last year is anything to go by, this could be an absolute run fest with well over 400 runs being scored between the two sides.

Back to winning ways

The Mumbai Indians will be keen to get their first points on the board in this year’s IPL after their opening day defeat to the Chennai Super Kings. Although Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma will have many positives to take from their first match, especially their bowling in the powerplay. The restricted CSK to 6-2 and opening bowlers Trent Boult and James Pattinson went at under 7 runs per over from their allocation. Despite this, they will be hoping that talisman Jasprit Bumrah can be somewhere back to his best, after the unique seamer claimed figures of 1-43 from his four overs.

With the bat a lot of batsman got in but no one went on to get that match winning score. Saurabh Tiwary top scored with 42 and South African opener Quinton de Kock hit 33 from just 20 balls to get Mumbai off to a fast start. They might be tempted to bring Ishan Kishan in to the side after leaving the 22-year-old out of their opener.

Time to hit the ground running

On paper, the Kolkata Knight Riders have some of the best overseas recruitment in this years IPL. They have a good balance between firepower with the bat and express pace with the ball. England’s white ball World Cup winning captain Eoin Morgan joins with T20 global superstar Andre Russell. ‘Dre Russ’ will have good memories of playing against the Mumbai Indians after his Man of the Match performance when the teams met last year. He hit 80* from just 40 balls and took 2-25 in a 34 run victory.

With the ball, KKR can boast about having the most expensive player in this year’s edition of the IPL with Aussie Pat Cummins. He is coming off the back of a good white ball series in England and will be keen to prove that he is worth the big price tag. He is joined by Kiwi Lockie Ferguson who is known around the globe for his lighting pace and skill at the death. The Knight Riders captain Dinesh Karthik also has Sunil Narine in his ranks. The pinch hitting spinner gives Karthik options on how to balance his side as he can take handy wickets but also score quickly in the powerplay.

Match Tip

For this one I can see plenty of runs being scored. Mumbai will be looking to post more than the 162-9 they managed against CSK and with the likes of Morgan and Russell, KKR are more than capable of hitting a big score. I think the Mumbai Indians will sneak a victory but it could go either way.

I am backing more than 320.5 runs to be scored in this one with Bet365.

Bet More than 320.5 runs to be scored in the match on Bet365