Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders Prediction & Betting Tips -

Prediction published on 01/05/2024, 06:30  by Devesh Jaganath in Indian Premier League Predictions

Match 51 of the 2024 Indian Premier League will see the Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders square off at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday afternoon. The hosts are currently ninth in the league standings, while the visitors are second. With four games to play, the Mumbai Indians will almost certainly not be a part of the playoffs this season, and a loss here will all but confirm their elimination. It has been a fairly miserable campaign for the five-time champions, who suffered a third consecutive defeat last time out, beaten by four wickets by the Lucknow Super Giants. Nehal Wadhera top scored with 46(41), and Tim David added 35* en route to a bang average 144/7, which LSG managed to chase down with four balls to spare. One of the few positives that Mumbai can take from this competition is the performance of pacemen Jasprit Bumrah and Gerald Cotzee, who have taken 14 and 13 wickets, respectively. Despite their poor performance in this tournament, the hosts are the favorites at the books. 

In contrast, the Kolkata Knight Riders have been in solid form this season and head into this match with 12 points in nine games, four behind league leaders the Rajasthan Royals. They were far too good for the Delhi Capitals on Monday when they chased down 153/9 with ease, achieving the total with 3.3 overs to spare. Phil Salt played another impressive innings, scoring 68 runs in just 38 balls, while Shreyas and Venkatesh Iyer both ended not out on 33 and 26 runs, respectively. Varun Chakaravarthy was the main contributor with the ball, bagging 3/16 in his four overs, while Harshit Rana and Vaibhav Arora took two wickets apiece. Salt has now moved up to sixth place in the orange cap standings, and Sunil Narine is eighth. A major strength of KKR this season has been their all-round performance, with both local and international players chipping in with big performances when it matters. Despite being the underdogs, the visitors cannot be ruled out of this one.