Find out team news, TV and streaming information, odds, weather forecasts and much, much more ahead of the next game of the 2021 Indian Premier League season
Mumbai Indians meet Kolkata Knight Riders in the 2021 Indian Premier League.
The game is scheduled for 6pm UAE (3pm BST, 7.30pm IST) on Thursday, September 23, 2021.
The two sides will meet at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Mumbai Indians are fourth in the table, with four wins and four defeats from their eight matches. However, after losing to Chennai Super Kings by 20 runs in the opening match of the IPL's UAE leg, the defending champions have lost three of their past five outings and are only ahead of fifth-placed Rajasthan Royals on net run rate.
Kolkata Knight Riders endured a torrid time in the first half of the IPL, winning just two of their seven matches. However, they demolished Royals Challengers Bangalore on Monday, bowling Virat Kohli's side out for 92 before chasing down a crucial win with 60 balls to spare. The Knight Riders sit sixth in the table with six points.
When these two sides met earlier in the season, Mumbai Indians took the two points with a 10-run victory.
Mumbai Indians are the favourites for this match, with Dafabet offering odds of 7/10. Kolkata Knight Riders are available at 11/10.
Rohit Sharma is at 23/10 to top-score for the Indians while Shubman Gill is available at 13/5 to do the same for Kolkata.
Andre Russell is the star attraction in the Kolkata Knight Riders squad. Ranked fourth on the T20 Player Index, the West Indian is best known for his destructive batting - remember his 14-ball half-century in the 2021 Caribbean Premier League? However, he is also an underrated pace bowler and showed his worth against RCB, returning figures of 3 for 9 from 3 overs. The 33-year-old now has a team-leading 10 wickets in 2021 to go with his 163 runs at a strike rate of 155.23. A game changer with bat and ball.
Also keep an eye on Venkatesh Iyer, who scored 41 not out off 27 balls in his first appearance of the season and shared an 82-run opening stand with Shubman Gill. An unfamiliar name to watch out for.
Mumbai Indians have a West Indian powerhouse of their own in Kieron Pollard. The veteran T20 gun for hire didn't fire against CSK, scoring 15 from 14 balls before being trapped lbw by Josh Hazelwood, but with nearly 12,000 T20 runs to his name and a career strike rate of 152.88, it shouldn't be long before he's winning matches for Mumbai.
With the ball, the 2020 champions have the enviable pace duo of Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult. The pair have a combined 18 wickets in eight innings and with the addition of New Zealand pacer Adam Milne could cause chaos with 12 overs of raw pace.
Kolkata Knight Riders have made one change to the squad which started the 2021 season, with Tim Southee replacing Australian bowler Pat Cummins, while Mumbai Indians are unchanged.
Both sides are expected to be full strength.
The two teams have played each other 28 times.
Mumbai Indians wins: 22
Kolkata Knight Riders wins: 6
The forecast for Abu Dhabi is sunny and very hot, with temperatures expected to peak around 36 degrees Celsius.
Follow the Met Office forecast here.
Yes, a limited number of fans are allowed to attend games during the IPL's UAE leg.
On paper, Mumbai Indians are the stronger side and will be keen to bounce back from their defeat against CSK. Mumbai Indians win.
IPL TEAM GUIDES
Sky Sports have the rights in the United Kingdom.
You can aso stream the tournament using the Disney+ Hotstar digital platform, though the matches are only available for VIP or Premium subscribers.
Star Sports have the television rights in India.
Streaming service YuppTV have acquired digital streaming rights in a host of markets, including Australia, continental Europe, Malaysia, Southeast Asia with the exception of Singapore, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives, Central Asia, and Central and South America.
In the USA, the games will be broadcast on Willow TV and the Willow TV website. Fox Sports have the broadcasting rights in Australia, while Supersport will televise the games in South Africa. In the Caribbean, Flow TV have the rights.
The following broadcasters owning the rights for their respective regions:
Bangladesh: Channel 9
Afghanistan: Lemar TV
Malaysia: Measat
MENA/UAE: BeIN Sport
Hong Kong: Now TV
Singapore: SingTel
New Zealand: Sky Sport
Papua New Guinea: EMTV
Mumbai Indians squad: Rohit Sharma, Aditya Tare, Anmolpreet Singh, Anukul Roy, Dhawal Kulkarni, Hardik Pandya, Ishan Kishan, Jasprit Bumrah, Jayant Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Quinton de Kock, Rahul Chahar, Suryakumar Yadav, Chris Lynn, Mohsin Khan, Saurabh Tiwary, Trent Boult, Adam Milne, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, James Neeshan, Yudhvir Charak, Marco Jansen, Arjun Tendulkar
Kolkata Knight Riders squad: Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan, Rahul Tripathi, Varun Chakravarthy, Pawan Negi, Tim Seifert, Shakib al Hasan, Sheldon Jackson, Vaibhav Arora, Karun Nair, Harbhajan Singh, Ben Cutting, Venkatesh Iyer, Tim Southee
Mumbai Indians: Quinton de Kock, Amnolpreet Singh, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Saurabh Tiwary, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Adam Milne, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult
Kolkata Knight Riders: Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy, Prasidh Krishna
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