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Mumbai: Thirsting for revenge and desperate to arrest their two-match losing streak in the ongoing Indian Premier League, Kolkata Knight Riders would settle for nothing less than a victory in their return leg clash against Mumbai Indians on Wednesday.
But it won't be easy for KKR as Mumbai Indians, with 18 points from 14 matches, hold an edge over the visitors and a victory in their last home game on Wednesday would definitely cement the Harbhajan Singh-led side's place in the second stage of the competition.
KKR, who suffered back-to-back defeats in their last two games - against Mumbai Indians and holders Chennai Super Kings - at the home venue of Eden Gardens, are a point adrift of their rivals with 17 in their kitty from 14 games.
But a win against Mumbai on Wednesday at the Wankhede stadium would virtually seal KKR's place in the four-team play-offs ahead of their final round robin game against the struggling Pune Warriors on May 19.
KKR, however, need to dust off the stunning last-ball defeat against Chennai on Monday in their final home game of the season if they desire to match the highly confident Mumbai outfit, whose main adversary playing in their backyard has been the uncertain nature of the wickets.
On wickets that have helped batsmen, MI have been on roll, but on wickets that have either seamed around or helped spin bowlers overtly, their mighty batting line-up has struggled a bit - indicated by their 3-4 win-loss record at home this season.
Mumbai have turned it around after being comprehensively outplayed by the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede stadium on May 9. They defeated KKR and RCB away from home in back-to-back games to stand on the threshold of qualifying for the next stage of the competition.
If it was Rohit Sharma who flattened KKR with a brilliant unbeaten 109, his maiden IPL ton, it was another talented youngster - Ambati Rayudu - who stole the win for MI against RCB on Monday in Bangalore with a brilliant 81 not out off 54 balls.
Mumbai's bowling has been a mixed bag right throughout the tournament with the exception of Lasith Malinga, who heads their wicket-takers' list with 20 scalps from 11 games.
On the other hand, Gautam Gambhir has led KKR from the front with the bat, scoring 519 runs from 13 games.
Jacques Kallis (297 from 13) and Brendon McCullum (216 from 9) have done well in patches, but the poor showing of the middle-order would be a serious concern for Gambhir going into their last two league encounters.
A major let-down for KKR in both batting and bowling has been Yusuf Pathan, who has done precious little barring a cameo of 40 not out against MI. His tally of 117 runs and a lone wicket in 13 games has been below par.
Luckily for KKR, West Indian off-spinner Sunil Narine has been the find of the season. With 17 scalps from 11 games, Narine is expected to play a vital role against Mumbai and his battle with the home team's middle-order could be crucial to the outcome of the game.
Teams from
Mumbai Indians: Harbhajan Singh (captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Herschelle Gibbs, Rohit Sharma, James Franklin, Dwayne Smith, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Kieron Pollard, Ambati Rayudu, Abu Nechim, Amitize Singh, Aiden Blizzard, Yazuvnedra Chahal, Clint McKay, Davy Jacobs (wk), Richard Levi, Dhawal Kulkarni, K Yadav, Lasith Malinga, Sushant Marathe, Pragyan Ojha, Munaf Patel, Robin Peterson, Sujit Nayak, Suryakumar Yadav, Jaydev Shah, RP Singh, T Suman, Pawan Suyal, Aditya Tare and Apporva Wankhede.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Brendon McCullum (wk), Manvinder Bisla (wk), Jacques Kallis, Manoj Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Debabrata Das, Shakib Al Hasan , Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Rajat Bhatia, Brett Lee, Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan, Marchant de Lange, Ryan ten Doeschate, Chirag Jani, Iqbal Abdulla, Iresh Saxena, Jaidev Unadkat, Laxmipathy Balaji, Pradeep Sangwan, Sanju Samson, Sarabjit Singh Ladda and Mohammad Shami Ahmed.
Match facts
Wednesday May 16, 2012 (day/night)
Start time 20:00 local (14:30 GMT)
