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| Hello and welcome to Sportstar’s LIVE coverage of Match 34 of IPL 2021 between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders from Abu Dhabi. |
MI 16/0 in 3 overs: Short and smashed away. Narine fends one marginally off the length and Rohit latches onto it and clears the inner-circle on the on-side. The ball finds the fence and Rohit quickly finds a single. de Kock joins the act with a fierce cut that nearly finds the short third fielder but drifts away for another boundary.
Narine replaces Rana. Third over for spin in Powerplay!
MI 9/0 in 2 overs: Pretty watchful from both batters against Varun who deftly slides it in. Rohit keeps himself low on the crease and tucks one towards midwicket for a single. QDK opens his account with a flick to the on-side.
Spin from both ends! Varun into the attack
MI 5/0 in 1 over: Rohit begins with a boundary! A tad loose through the air as Rana loops one in. Rohit languidly laces it through covers for a beautiful four. Rana does well to tighten things up and concedes a lone single in the next five.
WOW! Nitish Rana is up with the new ball. Interesting!
Game On! Rohit Sharma and QDK walk out for Mumbai. Morgan’s men take their positions.
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7:15PM IST: Two interesting battles to watch out for in the first half. Rohit vs mystery spinners Chakravarthy and Narine and vs extreme pace in Lockie Ferguson. Furthermore, questions begin to pop up as Hardik misses consecutive matches due to a supposed “niggle” – a month before the T20WC.
Mumbai Indians XI: Rohit Sharma(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Saurabh Tiwary, Krunal Pandya, Adam Milne, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult
KKR XI: Nitish Rana, Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (capt), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna
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Toss: KKR wins the toss, opts to bowl first Rohit Sharma: Feeling good. Looking forward to the game. Just one change – Anmol misses out. Not a lot to be honest. Certain basics of cricket that was missed, we need to do right. We have spoken about it and hopefully we can execute today. It is a good positive to have but I personally understand that every day is a new day. T20 is a format that you have to be good on that particular day. Eoin Morgan: We are going to bowl first. It worked in the first game and we are going for the same formula. Not getting complacent and sport has the knack to bite you in the back side. We have kept the same side. |
TOSS TIME! The Hitman is back.
6:49PM IST: Rohit continues his warm-ups with the physio keeping a close watch on him. Well, it’s still a bit muddled, folks.
PITCH REPORT: “The breeze is coming in nicely at Abu Dhabi today. It is a new surface. Tonight it is going to be a battle of spin, fast bowlers do pick up wickets here and that is because it is a bit grassy with a slow tennis ball kind of bounce. Generally spin is very hard to score at and they take 40 percent of the wickets. The breeze, size of the boundary; some of the reasons for spinners being successful. Batters might have a tough time” – Danny Morrison and Hayden discuss pitch-side.
6:38PM IST:
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Dinesh Karthik: If we can edge over Mumbai today, we will have advantage moving forward. Varun Chakravarthy and I share the same language so we chat from behind the stumps. There’s a nice camaraderie with Morgan and me. We think differently, gives him a different perspective. Trent Boult speaks to the broadcaster: Definitely a crucial game. Would be nice to get some momentum and push through in the tournament. We have a good record against KKR but we can’t take them lightly. I generally try an pitch the ball up and get some swing. The players, quality of the wickets and all influence my lengths. Bowling to Russell is good fun. He’s a talented players and we’ve done our research and hopefully we can keep him quiet. It’s nice to come against your country counterparts, and looking forward to a good match. |
Hitman and DK reunite. – SPORTZPICS
6:35PM IST: Russell is flexing those big biceps out in a hit at the middle. Can he torment MI tonight? Bumrah’s had the wood over him, snapping him thrice in nine innings and that’ll be an exciting prospect for tonight.
6:24PM IST: Lot cooler today in Abu Dhabi reckons Matthew Hayden. Kolkata has by far looked the best team on show so far in this leg. Mumbai, on the other hand, was way below par in its first match against CSK. KKR will want to improve on its record against Rohit’s men, and the time is now.
6:05PM IST: Live visuals on Rohit. He’s in his training kit on the sidelines but things still seem a bit unclear regarding his availability.
5:52PM IST: Can MI continue its fine run in Abu Dhabi against its most favoured opposition?
We’re all set for Match No. 34! – SPORTZPICS
5:45PM IST: Numbers Game
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5:37PM IST: Mumbai Indians record in Abu Dhabi
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Matches: 9 Won: 6 Loss: 3 HS: 195 |
Kolkata Knight Riders record in Abu Dhabi
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Matches: 12 Won: 7 Loss: 5 HS: 194 |
5:25PM IST: Here’s a look at the MI v KKR head to head in brief
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MI vs KKR Head to Head Span: 2008-2021 Matches: 28 Won: MI – 22, KKR – 6 HS (MI) vs KKR: 210 LS (MI) vs KKR: 108 HS (KKR) vs MI: 232 LS (KKR) vs MI: 67 |
MATCH PREVIEW
It has been one of the most lopsided contests in the Indian Premier League. But, besides planning to continue its domination over Kolkata Knight Riders, with a 22-6 head-to-head record in its favour, the Mumbai Indians camp would be fretting over the availability of two of its key members — captain Rohit Sharma and all-rounder Hardik Pandya.
Neither the stand-in skipper Kieron Pollard nor head coach Mahela Jayawardene spelt out what kind of “niggles” were the two carrying.
Boult stays guarded
Trent Boult, the left-arm pacer, continued the trend by remaining guarded about the duo’s injury.
“They are both recovering very well. In terms of their selection for the next game, I’m not too sure what’s going on there. But day by day, they are improving,” Boult said on Thursday.
“They are obviously two vital players in the XI for Mumbai. And we are desperate to get them back.”
KKR, meanwhile, would be looking forward to maintain its momentum after rolling over Royal Challengers Bangalore. Should the KKR bowling unit repeat its heroics against an under-pressure MI batting line-up, it can hope for a rare victory against the five-time champion.
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WHERE TO WATCH – MI vs KKR – Match 34 of IPL 2021 The IPL 2021 match between Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders will be aired live on Star Sports channels – Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 3 and Star Sports 3 HD. The online streaming will be available on Hotstar.
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