IPL 2016: Where to Watch MI vs KKR 

The 24th match of the VIVO IPL 2016 promises to be a thriller as the hosts, fifth-placed defending champions Mumbai Indians pushes for a place into the playoff positions while second-placed Kolkata Knight Riders would want to regain the top spot. Both teams come into this match on the backs of impressive wins in their last matches. While it has been smooth-sailing for the Knights so far, Mumbai Indians, who have had their setbacks this season, will take heart from the fact that they are the only team so far to have beaten the men in purple. Also, they boast of a much superior head-to-head record against them since the inaugural edition of IPL.

The Match will be live from 20:00 IST, 2:30 GMT. Watch live streaming of KKR vs MI on www.starsports.com and www.hotstar.com. Mobile users can watch live streaming of KKR vs MI on the Hotstar App. You can also watch the live telecast of KKR vs MI on Sony ESPN, Sony ESPN HD, Sony Six, Sony Six HD, Sony Max. The match will be played at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Mumbai Indians will be hoping to do a double over the fellow two-time champions. The Knights overcame some rare hiccups to snatch a thriller versus Pune in their last match and will want to be back to their clinical best. As for Mumbai, the two other teams they have beaten so far are the Royal Challengers Bangalore and the Kings XI Punjab, the teams with the second-worst and worst record respectively so far. Thus, Mumbai would want to show that they can rise to the big occasions as well.

Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma has anchored most of the Mumbai Indians innings till date and after an unexpected setback in the last match against Punjab, where he got out for a duck, caught behind to a lazy shot, would want to get his batting back on track. He has shown a lot of faith in his opening partner, keeper Parthiv Patel, who repaid the faith in the last match with a fine 58-ball-81, although he had luck favouring him on more than one occasion. He would be hoping to continue from where he left off, against one of the best bowling attacks this season.

Ambati Rayudu also showed his class in his 37-ball-65 and would look to add crucial runs. England’s hard-hitting Jos Butler and West Indies heavyweight all-rounder Kieron Pollard have been getting starts of late and will have to be at their destructive best to provide sheen to the scoreline. However, Kiwi powerhouse Corey Anderson might get his chance at the expense of the misfiring Pollard, after sitting out all his team’s matches so far.

Hardik Pandya and spinning all-rounder Krunal Pandya also have to contribute in both departments. The pace bowling trio of Tim Southee, Mitchell Mclenaghan, and Jasprit Bumrah picked up all seven Punjab wickets between them (2, 2 and 3 respectively) and were fairly economical. So even though Mumbai has signed Jerome Taylor as a replacement for their long-serving Lasith Malinga, who has been ruled out of the tournament with an injury, it is unlikely that he would break into the team immediately.

The pace trio will play a crucial role in keeping the big-hitting batsmen of Kolkata in check. Harbhajan Singh will be the only experienced spinner in the squad as Mumbai’s fast bowlers have done most of the damage so far.

Kolkata’s victories till the last match had been nothing short of a cakewalk. Their last nail-biter versus a resilient Pune team, the batsmen played some irresponsible shots towards the end to give the Knights a needlessly nervy finish. While both their lynchpin-openers, captain Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa missed out last time (Uthappa with a first-ball duck), they have to be at their usual best, complementing each other and provide a solid platform to build the Knight Riders’ innings on.

Manish Pandey is still down with chicken pox, and while all-rounder R.Sathish did hit a lusty six in the match against Pune, has to be wary of his shot-selection. Mumbai lad Suryakumar Yadav, filled up Pandey;s boots in some style as after being promoted to number three, he almost single-handedly guided the Knights to victory, courtesy of his superb 49-ball-60.

Shakib Al Hasan still has to showcase the form that makes him one of the top all-rounders in the world. Yusuf Pathan supported Suryakumar Yadav well with his 27-ball-36 and is also a good spin option to have. Big-hitting West Indian Andre Russell has been rather quite this season apart from the 17-ball-36 against Mumbai themselves and has also been expensive with the ball. If he fires, the Knights would be odds-on favourites to win this one.

Coming to their spin department, while Piyush Chawla has been decent, by being both economical and getting crucial wickets at critical junctures, Sunil Narine has been far from his best, giving away a surprising number of runs by his standards. While the Knights will bank on Chawla’s usual variations, they would want Narine to be back to his usual wicket-taking and economical self.

Pacer Umesh Yadav hit the winning runs with a lusty blow in the match against Pune to settle all nerves, but the Knights would hope his heroics with the bat are not required this time out and instead hope that he gives the batsmen trouble with his raw pace and wicket-taking touch. Aussie speedster John Hastings has been ruled out of the tournament with an ankle injury, which is a shame as he was very economical while picking up a good amount of wickets, but Proteas pacer Morne Morkel has a huge reputation with his fireballs, picking wickets at regular intervals. He would be leading the bowling pack and will look forward to giving the Knights some early breakthroughs.

The match will be broadcasted live SuperSport in Africa, Geo Super in Pakistan, Maasranga in Bangladesh, Set Max and Sony Six in Bhutan, ESPN in the US, and Sky Sports in the UK. The live streaming of the match can also be watched on CricketGateway.com in Australia.