Indian Premier League 2020, Match 5, Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders: As it happened

Kolkata Knight Riders will kick-start their IPL 2020 campaign against Mumbai Indians and would look to start strong to gain some momentum for the later stages. Mumbai on the other hand will look to bounce back from their defeat in the tournament opener against Chennai Super Kings.

Image credits: Twitter/@mipaltan

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of match number 5 of IPL 2020 between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Mumbai Indians (MI) to be held at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi later tonight (September 23).

Mumbai Indians have completed an emphatic 49-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders. Knight Riders' batsman failed to get going and never really threatened the disciplined bowling attack of Mumbai Indians.

Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders had won the toss and opted to bowl first against Mumbai Indians.

Mumbai Indians finished their innings at 195/5. Not quite the frantic finish that they were looking for as KKR bowled well at the death.  Rohit Sharma led from the front with his brillant 80 (off 54 balls; 4x3, 6x6). He reached another milestone by completing 200 sixes in the IPL.

KKR will kick-start their IPL 2020 campaign with this encounter against the defending champions Mumbai Indians and would look to come out all guns blazing to gain some momentum for the later stages of the tournament.

MI on the other hand will look to bounce back from their defeat in the tournament opener against Chennai Super Kings. They were comprehensively beaten by MS Dhoni- led CSK by 5 wickets.

But if the head-to-head record is anything to go by, MI have the upper hand. In the 25 matches played between the two sides, Mumbai have won 19 matches while KKR has only won 6 of them.

The sheer amount of match-winners that KKR have in their squad is unparalleled. Karthik, Shubman Gill, Eoin Morgan, Nitish Rana and Tom Banton.

In the bowling department they boast of two-time IPL Most Valuable Player award winner Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Yadav.

And, talking about teams we cannot not talk about the one-man army that KKR possess in their ranks: Andre Russell. The reigning MVP winner, Russell, is T20 cricket’s most lucrative property. He is the biggest match winner in cricket. Period.

Meanwhile, MI are a record 4-time champions for a reason. Captain ‘hitman’ Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya, Keiron Pollard, Chris Lynn and Quinton de Kock - all capable of changing their side’s fortunes at any stage of the game. Jasprit Bumrah’s death bowling craft is second to none and Mumbai will rely on his able shoulders to spearhead their attack this year. 

It looks like a pretty even contest on the cards and we expect a lot of fireworks in the middle today, thanks to so many big-hitters that are taking the field today.

The match as it happened:

24 September 2020

00:06 IST

Hitman is adjudged the Man of the Match for his match-winning knock of 80 off 54 deliveries.#Dream11IPL #KKRvMI pic.twitter.com/nwReQGCc9o

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) September 23, 2020

23:43 IST

Mumbai Indians thump Kolkata Knight Riders, complete an easy 49-run victory. Mumbai Indians obtain their first win of the tournament. Shivam Mavi is out stumped on the final ball of the innings against Rahul Chahar.