IPL 2022: Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight Riders Betting Tips

After suffering defeat in eight straight matches to start the season, the Mumbai Indians go searching for their third consecutive victory when they face off against the Kolkata Knight Riders this afternoon. This will be a battle of the bottom two sides on the table.

We’ll be previewing this match and providing betting tips and the players to watch.

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It has been a case of the batsmen finally delivering for Mumbai in their last two wins over Rajasthan and Gujarat. Despite only one individual score over fifty (Suryakumar Yadav – 51), five players in each match managed to score double digits.

The obvious uncertainty for Mumbai coach Mahela Jayawardene is what to do with Kieron Pollard who is averaging just 14.33 with a strike rate of only 109.32 so far in , with both numbers career lows for him. It is very likely that he’ll be left out of the starting XI for this match.

When Kolkata Knight Riders played Mumbai Indians last time, Daniel Sams ended the match with an over to forget, as Pat Cummins took 35 off it to score the joint-fastest half-century in the IPL, while Venkatesh Iyer made an unbeaten 50 after opening the batting with Ajinkya Rahane.

The obvious failure that KKR are suffering from in recent games is their opening stand after a highest partnership of only 16 across their last five matches. Considering Kolkata need to win their remaining three matches to have any hope of a playoff berth, is it time to move Andre Russell up the order?

Mumbai have lost the fewest powerplay wickets of any team in IPL 2022 (12), and Knight Riders the most (23). They have tried five opening combinations, without much success, and their run rate of 6.53 is the lowest of all teams in the powerplay, while Mumbai are among the top four fastest starters this season at 7.91 runs per over.

With both sides having poor campaigns, both sides will be looking for a win and I am backing Rohit Sharma’s side to get the win.

Key Stat

Mumbai have won 22 of their 30 games against Knight Riders. Their win percentage of 73.33 makes this the most lopsided rivalry in IPL history.

Neither Shreyas Iyer (KKR) nor Rohit Sharma (Mumbai) have been the highest run-scorer of a match this season.

KKR have an all-time powerplay average of 47, but so far in IPL 2022 it is only 39.

Sunil Narine bowling to Rohit Sharma in all T20s: 9/183 at 6.45rpo.

Mumbai have hit the most sixes of a match just twice in the 2022 season.

Players to Watch

Tim David (Mumbai) has had five IPL innings in his career. Of the two times he was dismissed for less than ten, he had a strike rate of 33.33. Of the three innings he scored in double digits, his lowest strike rate was 150.00. Sunil Narine (KKR) is enjoying another solid IPL season and currently ranks as the league’s most economical (5.22) bowler. He currently sits eighth on the all-time list of wickets in the IPL (151) and could even top the tree before his career finishes.

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