After a short break, Mumbai Indians (MI) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will be back in action as they square off in Match 32 of the Dream11 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Friday.

While MI have five wins against their name from seven games, KKR have thus far secured four victories from seven matches in the IPL 2020.

In their last encounter, MI had come out on top against KKR on the back of their skipper Rohit Sharma’s 45-ball 70. While the defending champions will be keen to have an encore, KKR will be looking to turn the tables.

Here are the players to watch out for

Quinton de Kock

Quinton de Kock notched up his second fifty of the three games when MI faced Delhi Capitals (DC). The left-handed batsman set the tone for MI’s chase, stroking 53 off 36 balls, taking on the likes of Anrich Nortje and Kagiso Rabada. The MI wicketkeeper-batsman will be eyeing to continue his good run of form and set the stage on fire against KKR. 

Shubman Gill

Having scored 254 runs from 7 matches, Shubman Gill has been KKR’s leading run-getter this IPL season. His last two outings have seen him score 57 and 34. The team will want the young right-hander to come good with the bat once again as it looks to beat MI.  

Suryakumar Yadav

Audacious, classy and effective. Suryakumar Yadav has often mixed his classical cover drives with cheeky scoops and has found a way to score runs. His last two outings, where he scored 79* and 53 against Rajasthan Royals (RR) and DC respectively are testimony of the same. The right-hander will be out to make it count for the third time in a row.

Eoin Morgan

While Gill has been pivotal for KKR at the top, Eoin Morgan has been someone that KKR have banked on to put in important contributions and the England limited-overs skipper has also lived up to his reputation. He will once again be the someone that KKR will turn to against MI.   

MI pace-bowling trio

Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult and James Pattinson have hunted in a pack this IPL season. While Bumrah and Boult have 11 wickets each, Pattinson has 9 wickets to his name. In other words, the three have shared 31 wickets amongst themselves and this has benefited MI greatly, helping them win 5 of their seven games. The trio will once again be pivotal to MI’s fortunes.

Wild Card

Andre Russell

Seven games into IPL 2020 and Andre Russell is yet to unleash a Russell special to single-handedly change the course of the game. There have been a few sneak-peaks of a possible Russell show, but the big-hitting West Indian all-rounder is yet to set the stage on fire with the bat. He and KKR will be hoping that the game against MI will change that.

Stats

• MI at this venue: Played 6, Won 4, Lost 2
• KKR at this venue: Played 7, Won 4, Lost 3

Approaching Milestones

• Rohit Sharma requires 56 runs to complete 4000 IPL runs for Mumbai Indians.
• Trent Boult needs 1 wicket to complete 50 IPL wickets.
• Andrew Russell needs 29 runs and 87 runs respectively to complete 1500 IPL runs and 1500 runs for KKR in IPL.
• Eoin Morgan requires 5 sixes to complete 50 IPL sixes.