IPL 2024: Why Will MI be Toughest Hurdle For KKR to Get Past on The Way to Playoffs?

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After almost five years Mumbai Indians will return to Eden Gardens, to face Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday (May 11) evening. In their previous 33 duels, the Mumbai side have an overwhelming dominance over the Knights, as they have won 23 of them.

Though in the last five duels, KKR has an edge by winning three of them. In their last match, KKR managed to beat MI by 20 runs, along with breaking the 12-year-long curse of losing at Wankhede.

This season, the visitors are the first team to get eliminated from the race of the playoffs. Mumbai is currently sitting eighth with 8 points in twelve matches.

On the other hand, the hosts are sitting at the summit of the points table with 16 points by playing one match less than their opponents. Though MI lost to KKR just a week ago, they made a comeback by defeating SRH by 7 wickets.

IPL 2024 KKR vs MI: Three reason why KKR can lose to MI?

Though KKR might seem confident about the fixture due to their forms and position on the table, MI can hold up their play-offs dreams due to these factors:

The In-form Mumbai Middle Order: Though the MI batting line-up has struggled and stayed inconsistent throughout the season, especially the top order, their middle order remains an exception. Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Verma have been exceptional in the recent matches.

SKY has scored 342 runs this season with a 176.72 strike rate, and three fifties and a century on the way. Andre Russel and Sunil Narine would be the perfect match-up against them, and these duels could decide the fate of the match.

The Toss and Pitch Factor: This season Eden Gardens remains unpredictable due to its highly batting-friendly nature. The ground has seen the highest-ever successful run-chase in IPL history two times in this season.

KKR had to bite the dust even after scoring humongous scores of 261 against PBKS and 224 against RR. Barring the matches against SRH and RCB, the second batting teams were victorious. Hence, winning the toss will be a great deciding factor in the fate of the fixture and also the nature of the pitch will add unpredictability to the game.

Diversity in MI Bowling: Knights have struggled in the death overs in continuing their run-fests in the recent matches. With Jasprit Bumrah in the opposition, it will be more difficult for Russel or Rinku Singh to hit big shots.

In the middle, the former Knight Piyush Chawla can be fatal with leg-spin. Nuwan Thusara was successful in toppling the KKR top-order at Wankhede, a similar spell can be detrimental for the Knights. Anshul Kamboj also looked dangerous against SRH in the last match.

Even after all the concerns KKR would be the favourite on paper due to their recent show. In the last match at the venue, KKR bowlers put on leash over the DC batters and spinners also got the necessary help.

To beat KKR, Mumbai had to perform well in all the departments. As MI have nothing to lose and KKR has the top two spots at stake, a highly competitive battle can be expected from these two arch-rivals.