IPL 2024: Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders Best Bets

Kolkata Knight Riders will be looking to end a 12-year hoodoo at the Wankhede when they travel to Mumbai to take on Mumbai Indians on Friday. Unlike most other head-to-head clashes in IPL 2024, Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders will face off for the first time this season. We’ve prepared the best bets for Match 51 of the campaign.

Venue: Wankhede Stadium

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Mumbai Indians’ latest performances echo the struggles of their 2022 season when they finished at the bottom, once again lamenting early wickets lost in the powerplay and lacking substantial knocks from their top-order batters. Rohit Sharma’s sole century against Chennai stands out as his only significant score in 2024, mirroring Ishan Kishan’s solitary half-century. Despite Suryakumar Yadav’s two memorable fifties, his consistency is lacking with several low scores. They’ve dropped more powerplay wickets (19) than almost any team after 49 matches.

In their recent four-wicket defeat at Lucknow, only Jasprit Bumrah, with an economy of 6.40 RPO, and Mohammad Nabi, at 8.83 RPO, bowled below this year’s IPL average economy rate, highlighting a broader issue with underperforming bowlers. Besides Bumrah and Gerald Coetzee, no other bowler has more than six wickets.

Kolkata come from a five-game home stretch at Eden Gardens with three wins, losing only to Rajasthan and Punjab, the latter also recently victorious in Chennai. Now mid-table and closely packed, they must focus on rivals close behind rather than the distant leaders, Rajasthan. This tight race emphasises the importance of a top-two finish for a playoff advantage.

Kolkata’s wins on the road in Visakhapatnam and Bengaluru lessen the pressure for home advantage. However, their upcoming match against Mumbai at Wankhede, where they haven’t won since 2012, will be a real test. They come into this match backed by a strong bowling performance, leading the league in wickets per innings and powerplay efficiency, crucial given Mumbai’s difficulty in forming partnerships.

Despite Kolkata’s recent dominance in head-to-heads, winning three of the last four against all teams, their bowlers have historically struggled against Mumbai’s key hitters like Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya, who have consistently scored well against them. This upcoming clash at Wankhede offers a chance for Kolkata to turn their poor record around, leveraging their current form.

Mumbai are the favourites for this game, mainly because of KKR’s poor record at Wankhede. The home side will be desperate for a win, and we expect their key players to rise to the occasion. 

Prediction: Mumbai Indians to win at 1.76.

Key Battle: There’s almost a guarantee that Rohit Sharma and Mitchell Starc will take one another on during the powerplay, and this is a matchup that has favoured the Mumbai Indians captain wherever they play. Across all formats, international and IPL included, Starc has dismissed Rohit just four times at an average of nearly 75.

Key Stats

Ten of the last 14 IPL games at Wankhede Stadium were won by chasing.

The average first innings score at this venue since the start of 2023 is 195, rising to 218 for the four teams that won batting first.

Kolkata struck the most sixes of a game only three times this year, owing to their league-high of 11.78 sixes per innings conceded.

Mitchell Starc returned figures of 3/101 from ten overs across Kolkata’s first three away games of 2024.

Mohammad Nabi averages a hefty 45 with the ball at Wankhede Stadium but has an outstanding economy rate of 6.92rpo.

MI’s win percentage of 71.8% against KKR in the IPL is the most dominant head-to-head record in the league.

Sunil Narine accumulated an impressive 159 runs from his first three away innings of this season. 

Andre Russell has never dismissed Rohit Sharma in T20 cricket, conceding 139 runs from 14 overs.

Best Bets

Best Bet: Highest individual score to be over 79.5 at 1.86.

Alternative Bet: Both teams to score 200+ runs at 2.00.

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