Mumbai Indians take on Kolkata Knight Riders in the Qualifier 2 of Indian Premier League 2017 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday.
While Mumbai lost their Qualifier 1 encounter to Rising Pune Supergiant, who made the final on Tuesday, Kolkata managed to survive elimination after they beat defending champion Sunrisers Hyderabad in a rain-curtailed knockout match in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
While both teams will be geared up to join the Supergiant on Sunday, weather conditions will be key to today's clash as rain threat looms large in the South Indian city.
Match: Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders, Qualifier 2
Date: 19 May, Friday
Time: 10:30pm SGT/8pm IST/2:30pm GMT
Competition: Indian Premier League 2017
Venue: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
TV Channel: Singtel TV Ch 125 (Cricket Plus), Hub Sports Cricket will provide live TV coverage in Singapore.
Live Streaming: Hotstar, Cricketgateway.com
Mumbai would have been disappointed with their show at home in the Qualifier 1 following their inability to gun down a 163-run target on a slow track. Supergiant wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni cut loose in the final overs, helping the team add 41 runs in the last two overs and Rohit Sharma will want better death bowling performance from his bowling unit tonight.
Can Rohit step up?
However, Mumbai's key area of concern has been the lack of big runs from Rohit. It will be important for the India opener to contribute big and lead from the front, just like the way his counterpart, Gautam Gambhir, has been doing.
The Men in Blue will be tempted to bring in their experienced campaigner Harbhajan Singh as Chinnaswamy track will be on the slower side, assisting spinners. The likes of Lasith Malinga and Jasprit Bumrah, who have quite a lot of variations up their sleeves, will also relish the conditions.
Narine-Lynn at the top?
With rain expected to play a big role tonight, the toss will become crucial. Teams batting first will look to go big early and KKR will have the edge if it is another rain-curtailed encounter as they have the likes of Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine, who have it in them to fire from the word go.
TV Schedule
India: Sony ESPN, Sony Six
Singapore: StarHub and Singtel
Bangladesh: Bong BD
Malaysia: Astro SuperSport
Afghanistan: Lemar TV
UK: Sky Sports
US: ESPN
Middle East: OSN Sports
Caribbean: Sportsmax
MI
Possible XI: Rohit (c), Patel (wk), Simmons, Rana, Pollard, Krunal, Hardik, Harbhajan, McCleneghan, Malinga, Bumrah
KKR
Possible XI: Gambhir (c), Narine, Lynn, Uthappa (wk), Pathan, Suryakumar, Kuldeep, Piyush, Coulter-Nile, Umesh, Boult
