IPL 2017 Preview Match 7 | Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders

Mumbai will be boosted by the return of their Sri Lankan contingent after their last-over loss to Pune in the Maharashtra derby. But in the Pune game, it wasn't just the three points that they lost with Ambati Rayudu being stretchered off. The 31-year-old is set to miss at least the next four games of Mumbai's campaign. The first game of the season was a wake-up call for the Mumbai team and now that they have been restored to (almost) full strength, this will be a must-win game for them if they want one of the top two spots on the table.

Kolkata, on the other hand, got off to the perfect start winning their first game of the IPL in some style by chasing down 183 in less than 15 overs and that too without losing a wicket. Even though their strike bowlers didn’t perform at the level that is expected from them, Kuldeep Yadav's form would have given the Knight Riders a good reason to feel optimistic about this season. They, too, will welcome back the best all-rounder in world cricket, Shakib Al Hasan. With his ability with the ball and bat, it will be very difficult to leave him out of the team and it would be interesting to see who the KKR management choose to drop.

Head to Head

Even though Kolkata have won the same number of titles as their opponents, their head to head record against Mumbai can only be termed as disastrous. The two sides have met in the IPL on 18 occasions with Mumbai claiming the bragging rights 13 times compared to Kolkata's 5. KKR's record at the Wankhede paints a stark picture as well having won just one out of the six matches played at the venue. 

Last Meeting

Like many meetings before, it proved to be a one-sided affair, even if it didn't look like it after Kolkata, riding on Gautam Gambhir's 59, set Mumbai a target of 175. But, Rohit Sharma's 68 and Kieron Pollard 17-ball 51 secured an easy victory for Mumbai with 12 balls to spare.

Predicted Playing XI

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (capt), Parthiv Patel (wk), Jos Buttler, Saurabh Tiwari, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Nitish Rana, Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell Johnson, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (capt), Robin Uthappa (wk), Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Suryakumar Yadav, Ankit Rajpoot, Sunil Naraine, Kuldeep Yadav, Trent Boult, Chris Lynn.

Key Players

Lasith Malinga (MI): He is back! The 33-year-old was on National team duty during the first game of the season and Mumbai missed him while trying to defend 13 off the last over and were handed a loss by Steve Smith who scored two sixes in the last over. But now that Mumbai have the league's all-time leading wicket taker back, he might just get them the impetus that they lacked against Pune.

Chris Lynn (KKR): Still can't get over his innings against Gujarat, where he tore through the bowling attack with the best display of power hitting in the tournament so far. Scoring the fastest fifty of the 2017 IPL, so far, he helped KKR break a number of franchise records along the way.

Venue : Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Timing : 8 PM IST

TV Listings (India) : Sony Six HD, Sony Six, Set Max, Sony ESPN