Venue: Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium, Pune
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Average score at venue (1st inns): 191
Win percentage while batting first: 100%
Pitch conditions:
- A high-scoring contest on Wednesday night can be expected between a winless Mumbai and patchy Kolkata who are both keen to gain momentum in this tournament.
- The pitch at the MCA Stadium in Pune has remained a good batting surface and both the teams will be keen to shrug off the rust and put up a unified effort.
- With a wicket-share of 81.48% in their favour, fast bowlers can dominate here provided they bowl those ‘good’ lines and lengths, as anything wayward is deemed to be punished. The spinners only have a 18.52% of the wicket-share at this venue and they will have to wait for their art to come into play in this competition.
Weather prediction:
It is going to be a cloudy day in Pune with a high of 39°C in the afternoon, with the mercury dropping down drastically to 30°C around the time the match starts on Wednesday in Balewadi, and by the close of the game it will be 27°C. The humidity levels are set to increase sharply from 50% at the start, to get close to 70% by the close of play.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD (overall):
Matches played: 29
Kolkata won: 7
Mumbai won: 22
No result: -
Top 3 players from Kolkata: Umesh Yadav, Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy
Top 3 players from Mumbai: Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, R Sharma
Top picks for H2H/WTA contest (top 5 players each):
Top 5 players from Kolkata: Umesh Yadav Andre Russell, Varun Chakravarthy, Shreyas Iyer, Sunil Narine
Top 5 players from Mumbai: Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, R Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Tymal Mills
Q & A:
Fantasy tips and tricks: Should I pick more bowlers, batsmen or all-rounders?
The pitch at the MCA Stadium in Pune is of a true nature — batsmen will get plenty of runs here if they show the necessary discipline and determination, whereas fast bowlers can have things going their way if they are disciplined with where they put the balls. In the two matches played here so far, teams have scored at least around 150 irrespective of batting first or second. For this contest, it will be wise to have a long batting line-up followed by a decent line of fast bowlers. Spinners can only play the role of containing the opposition here for now.
Fantasy tips: From which team should I pick more players in my XI? Which team is stronger?
While Kolkata are at the second spot in the points table for the Indian T20 Cricket League 2022 with 2 wins in 3 matches so far, it is the five-time winners Mumbai who are yet to record a win in this season. However, looking at their bilateral history — Mumbai have 22 wins from 29 matches against Kolkata — the R Sharma-led side would not want anyone apart from the two-time winners to bounce back to winning ways. In team news, while Mumbai still seem to be figuring out their best playing combinations, Kolkata look to be a more settled and well-functioning team as things stand. Hence, Kolkata should have more players featuring in the fantasy cricket playing XI.
MORE INFORMATION: Mumbai are yet not sure if Suryakumar Yadav will be able to play the contest on Wednesday night against Kolkata, a team they have dominated over the last many years. Looking at the way Mumbai have performed with the bat, the absence of middle-order mainstay Suryakumar has indeed hurt the most successful team in the tournament. On the other hand, for Kolkata, the challenge will be to come up with a unified effort across departments, with their batsmen yet to make their presence felt in the competition.
PLAYERS’ FORM: Mumbai have been bolstered with the red-hot form of their wicketkeeper-batsman Ishan Kishan, who has been among the top run-getters in the Indian T20 Cricket League 2022, with captain R Sharma chipping in with crucial partnerships with him in the initial games. On his part, R Sharma looks far from his best, and there are concerns regarding their middle-order batsman Anmolpreet Singh, who failed to make his mark in the first two matches despite showing a lot of intent. In case Suryakumar is fit for selection, the right-handed Anmolpreet Singh will have to make way for the incoming star batsman. Mumbai will also hope for further progress in the case of Tilak Varma, who scored a quality 61 against Rajasthan in their previous match. For Kolkata, their right-arm India fast bowler Umesh Yadav is the biggest hope as he is currently the Purple Cap holder with 8 wickets in 3 matches.
Changes in squad (if any): NO
LIKELY XIs:
KOLKATA: Venkatesh Iyer, Ajinkya Rahane, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nitish Rana, Sam Billings (wk), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy.
MUMBAI: R Sharma (c), Ishan Kishan (wk), Anmolpreet Singh, N Tilak Varma, Kieron Pollard, Tim David, Daniel Sams, M Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Tymal Mills, Basil Thampi.
FANTASY XI: Ishan Kishan (c&wk), R Sharma, Shreyas Iyer (vc), Sam Billings, Andre Russell, Tilak Varma, Sunil Narine, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Murugan Ashwin, Tim Southee.
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Shreyas Iyer’s Kolkata wary of R Sharma’s desperate Mumbai
Kolkata have 2 wins from 3 matches in the ongoing Indian T20 Cricket League 2022 so far but on Wednesday they face a side that has bullied them for the last many years.
Mumbai’s 22 wins from 29 meetings with the two-time title winners Kolkata is a record that R Sharma and his men would like to draw a lot of confidence from, as they seek their maiden win in the competition having lost two games on the trot.
But it will be easier said than done for Mumbai who have fallen short in two games on the trot, and Kolkata have largely found their way around challenges that threatened them in the two matches they have so far won.
Kolkata’s batting leaves a lot to be desired — they are yet to cross the 150-run mark and on a conducive pitch at Pune, where the 200-run mark has been breached, it remains to be seen what kind of response they can come up with since their batsmen seems to be struggling largely.
Andre Russell smacked a ruthless 31-ball 70 not out and took them over the finish line in the previous clash against Punjab but Kolkata run the risk of being pulverised by Mumbai batsmen such as Ishan Kishan, R Sharma and others in Tilak Varma and Kieron Pollard who carry the ability of doing both, putting up or chasing down big totals.
And if Suryakumar is ready for a comeback, Kolkata will have to be wary of the threat that the right-handed batsman comes with.
For Mumbai, it is imperative for R Sharma to strike form as they need more from the batsmen after two losses.
The right-handed batsman R Sharma has looked in good rhythm but he would expect more runs off his bat, since there is a real threat in the form of opposition captain Shreyas Iyer, who too has been in hunt of runs having entered this competition on the back of dominant displays against Sri Lanka for India.
Mumbai are a team that usually picks up form and momentum after initial stages, but the challenge this year is different with a total of 10 teams in fray and the likes of Rajasthan, Punjab, Gujarat and even Bangalore showing a lot of positive signs.
Jasprit Bumrah warmed up for the road ahead with a superb three-for against Rajasthan, even though Mumbai fell short by 23 runs in the contest played at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
A lot will still be expected from new imports such as Tim David and Daniel Sams who have featured in both the last two matches for Mumbai.
