IPL 2020: KKR vs MI Game Plan 2 – Dealing with KKR’s star-studded lineup

The fifth match of the IPL 2020 tournament between the blockbuster teams, Kolkata Knight Riders, could all be about match-ups. We take a look at a key game plan that could play a role in the fifth game of IPL 2020 – KKR vs MI.

KKR vs MI Game Plan – How do MI answer KKR’s Batting?

For players coming to the IPL from the recently concluded England-Australia series, quarantine rules were relaxed, which means the Kolkata Knight Riders squad will be fully available for selection for their first match. Hence, they could straight away play their full-strength eleven, which will likely consist of Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik and of course, Andre Russell. KKR don’t just have one or two good players in their top six, their top six are all formidable.

Also Read: IPL 2020: KKR vs MI Game Plan 1 – Tackling the Genius of Sunil Narine

From Mumbai’s point of view, it will be very hard to restrict a lineup like this. There are several mini-battles that could end up deciding the course of the match.

Hardik vs Gill: Hardik Pandya has 42 IPL wickets and has bowled to 100 different batsmen, but the only player he has dismissed more than twice is Shubman Gill. Hardik has taken Gill’s wicket 3 times in just 5 balls, conceding just 1 run. He also has moderate success against Nitish Rana, so it will be interesting to see if captain Rohit hands him the ball.

Krunal vs Karthik: Dinesh Karthik in the last few years has remodeled himself into a finisher, coming in at 5 or below regularly. In the IPL, he has a good record against all of Mumbai’s pace bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah in particular. However, he struggles against Krunal Pandya; in the 17 balls he has faced from the SLA, he has been dismissed twice and scores at just 4.24 rpo. Considering Krunal bowled an over at the death in the previous match, we could witness another such ploy today, although it will be a high-risk high-reward move.

Play McClenaghan: Since his debut in 2015, only three bowlers in the IPL have taken more wickets than the Kiwi speedster, and of them only Yuzvendra Chahal has a better bowling strike rate. He’s been an integral part of the MI setup, and he could have a role to play today as well. McClenaghan has really good head-to-head numbers against Sunil Narine and has taken the wickets of Russell, Morgan and Tripathi as well, even without bowling too many balls. This gives him a really good case to make the playing eleven today, and MI will hope he can provide the breakthroughs.

Imperative for Bumrah to come back strong: In the absence of Lasith Malinga, the only bowler MI can rely on in the slog overs is Jasprit Bumrah who, since 2017, concedes just 8.1 runs an over in the final five. His form pre-COVID and in the first match will be a cause of worry for their management, as their other pace options all go at 10+ at the death. Hence, it is vital that he gets back into rhythm sooner rather than later.