IPL 2015 Final: Five Things We Learned From Mumbai Indians Winning Their Second Title

It was for the third time Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings were involved in an IPL final

Mumbai Indians (MI), by way of a massive 41-run victory over the Chennai Super Kings (CSK), lifted their second Indian Premier League (IPL) title that has got them equal with Chennai and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), as the teams to have won 2 titles apiece.

It was an imperious display from the home side that never let CSK off the hook, and it was, from a neutral's point-of-view, disappointing to witness such an one-sided final to bring the curtains down on what has by far been the most competitive season.

MS Dhoni won the toss and strangely, chose to bowl first on what has been a good batting wicket at the Eden Gardens this season. The Chennai skipper probably went by the record of the 6 completed games this season, at this venue, which has seen the teams chasing win 4 times. But it was a decision that, you could say, played it into MI's hands, as the hosts have been happy to bat first and put a total on the board.

Francois du Plessis inflicted a brilliant run out of Parthiv Patel in the very first over, to kick start Chennai's bowling innings on a resounding note. However, Rohit Sharma walked in at No.3 and played a simply magical innings.

The Mumbai batsman, along with the ever consistent Lendl Simmons, played audaciously and the Chennai bowlers didn't have an answer to the fluency that this partnership exuded.

This partnership, which put together a whopping 119 from a mere 67 balls, put their side in firm control of the proceedings very early on in the game, but by no means would have wanted to get out in subsequent overs (the 12th and 13th), and open the flood gates for the Super Kings.

Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard, though, made sure that there wasn't a further procession of wickets, soon after the quick fall of Simmons-Rohit duo. They took their time to settle down before going for the big strokes, as they sought to reach that magical 200-run mark.

Mumbai reached 202/5 at the end of their 20 overs, with 4 of their batsmen making substantial contributions to the team's cause and tearing the visitors' bowling attack apart. 203 was always going to be a massive total to chase, but a good start was imperative if CSK had to set the cat amongst the pigeons.

Lasith Malinga and Mitchell McClenaghan, as they have done on so many occasions this season, bowled well with the new ball, restricting Dwayne Smith and Michael Hussey to just a handful of scoring shots in the mandatory powerplay.

It meant that Dhoni's side needed more than 12 runs-per-over after the powerplay was over, which was going to be arduous given that Chennai's middle-order has failed miserably this season and none of their batsmen has been in any sort of form whatsoever.

Mumbai's bowlers were clinical in the way they went about their trade, using the scoreboard pressure to their advantage and halting the CSK batsmen from ball No.1.

Smith top-scored for the visitors with a 48-ball 59, which was an unusual innings from him and not one that gave Chennai the kind of start they were looking for in pursuit of 203. CSK, as a result, left themselves with too much to do in the last quarter of the game, and started losing wickets in a heap towards the end.

The Indians went onto win the game by a massive 41 runs, thereby clinching their second IPL title and issuing a warning to the other franchises. What did we make of that one-sided IPL 2015 final?

Read on...

Mumbai showed the quality of champions

Mumbai got themselves out of trouble on a couple of occasions, which proved crucial to their victory

Chennai couldn't have asked for a better start than the one they got when Parthiv ran himself out in trying to pinch a single against du Plessis at mid-on.

Mumbai have thrived on the good starts rendered by their openers throughout this season, and an early wicket surely wasn't the way to start, as far as they were concerned.

However, having said that, Rohit walked in at No.3 and took the attack to the opposition, playing freely and taking Chennai by surprise.

The visitors probably didn't see it coming, as Simmons was Rohit's batting partner and expected to play the big shots, with the skipper anchoring the innings.

It was quite a significant phase - from the 2nd over till the completion of the powerplay - in the game, which was won by Mumbai and that then gave them the edge over their opponents on the night.

There was another crucial phase during the MI innings, when Rohit and Simmons got out in a matter of couple of balls and Chennai had a chance to get back into the game.

Rayudu and Pollard, though, were sensible in the way they approached it, not relinquishing the advantage they had got as a result of the 119-run stand between Simmons and Rohit.

During their batting innings, Mumbai played the better cricket than Chennai, who couldn't come up with the answers to the questions the Indians put forward to them.

A good batting performance helped the visitors pile on 202 on the night of the finals, but it was important for them to kill the game off by bowling well at the beginning of CSK's innings; by restricting Chennai to a paltry 31/1 from the mandatory powerplay, Mumbai got a stranglehold of the game and didn't look back thereafter.

Therefore, they showed the quality of the champions and were deserving of their 2nd IPL title.

Chennai are a declining force in the IPL

Suresh Raina had a poor season, and contributed to his side's failure

On a night when MI issued a statement of intent to the rest of the IPL outfits, Chennai, by way of losing their third straight final, increasingly look like a side that is on the decline.

They have by far been the most consistent side throughout the history of the IPL, but this season has been a poor one by their standards and their weaknesses were exploited by Mumbai yesterday.

Chennai lost the moments in the game they were expected to come out on top, and their poor performance contributed to such a one-side final.

Mumbai played a sumptuous brand of cricket, but the visitors never came up with one stern response and that is the primary reason why I think they are fast becoming a declining force in the IPL.

The nature of the T20 cricket is such that it can make you look too good one day, and the exact opposite on another. But Chennai were appalling as a unit, led by Dhoni, who needs to raise his game first and foremost.

The decision to field first was another one of those tactical errors he has made this season, and then his failure to conjure up a turnaround after Mumbai looked in complete control of the game, was not good to see, at all.

If the Super Kings need to return to their impeccable best as a unit, Dhoni has simply got to improve on his batting, which has been one of the negative aspects of his, as well as the South Indian franchise's, season.

His captaincy and the way he manipulated his bowling options, was predictable and left a lot to be desired.

I thought that he could have utilized Dwayne Bravo better than he did throughout this season. The all-rounder finished the season with 26 wickets, and was tough to get away for most batsmen in the IPL. Therefore, it was a no brainer to maybe use him for an over or two in the first half of the batting innings, thereby stop the opponents from dictating the tempo and easily grab at least one wicket, which can mean so much in the context of a T20 game.

While their skipper typified CSK's season, the likes of Suresh Raina, Smith and du Plessis disappointed with the bat, too, and it was probably 'the' reason for Chennai failing to be competitive during the second half of the season.

MI played their best cricket on the night of the finals

The Indians, as we all have seen, made an obnoxious start to their IPL 2015 campaign, losing the first four games and inviting serious derision for the way they kept failing as a unit during the first few weeks of the 8th edition of the Pepsi IPL.

They turned their form around before the completion of the first half of the league phase, and hit their best form mid-way through the second half of the tournament.

However, it wasn't as though they dominated their games and registered comfortable victories; they had to work hard to get two points in the league phase and even in the Qualifier 1, Mumbai had to drop sweat and blood to overcome CSK.

Mumbai were clinical, close to flawless on the night of the finals

On the night of the finals, though, MI's performance was very close to flawless, and that was the reason for Chennai struggling to find enough openings and get themselves back into the game.

Mumbai were brilliant with the bat; the bowling attack fed off the good work done by the batsmen, and the ground fielding, and catching, was better than most nights during this IPL.

It was a comprehensive MI performance that couldn't have arrived at a more appropriate stage of the tournament.

Rohit leading from the front was invigorating to see

In the build up to the Qualifier 1 against CSK, Rohit spoke quite a lot about playing fearless cricket and it, therefore, was rather good to see the captain taking the mantle upon himself and living up to his own words.

When he came into bat in the finals, his side was in a spot of bother, and it could have been easy for him to think of smothering the Chennai bowling attack, playing the anchor role and focusing too much on not losing anymore wickets in the powerplay.

But there was genuine intent from Rohit, who struck boundaries from the first delivery he faced, shifting the pressure back on to the Chennai bowlers.

Rohit, during his vigil in the middle, scored runs across all areas of the ground and finished with 50 (26), an innings that was punctuated with six 4s and a couple of crisply struck 6s. I thought Rohit's innings was one of the major turning points in the game.

Rohit's captaincy has been rather impressive this season

When Mumbai came onto bowl, Rohit once again was astute in the way he utilized his bowlers, clearly understanding the situation of the game and executing his tactics perfectly.

Like in the Qualifier 1, he had to make a decision of not bowling Jagadeesha Suchith while the visitors had a left-hander batting in the middle, and he manipulated his other bowling options very well. Suchith, in fact, never bowled in the game, which saw Hardik Pandya complete his four overs for the first time in the title-winning season.

The stylish right-hander was probably not as consistent as he would have liked to be with the bat, but overall, Rohit had a wonderful IPL 2015 season as a skipper and secondly, batsman.

In hindsight, it wasn't an unexpected result, except for the margin of it

Chennai did well to win against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the Qualifier 2 and qualify for the 6th IPL final in their history.

However, despite that 3-wicket victory, Dhoni's devils had won just 4 of their 9 games prior to last night's finals, while Mumbai, on the other hand, had won 8 of their 9 games and were clearly the favorites to pip CSK for the title.

Mumbai outshone Chennai in all three departments of the game and, as aforementioned, the visitors didn't have an answer to the dominance shown by the hosts.

It wasn't a surprising script, because MI were the more in-form of the two finalists

CSK were afforded very few chances or opportunities, if at all there were any, and the Indians were well-organized and had a method to their approach, an aspect that Chennai lacked.

Maybe in a final of a T20 competition, you didn't expect such a massive margin of victory for Mumbai, considering that Chennai are a good side and thrive on occasions such as last night's.

However, they simply weren't at it, and simply put: the more in-form of the two sides clinched it.

Final Thought

Chennai, with their loss yesterday, have now won only two of the six IPL finals they have contested, and it was a shame that they didn't even manage to run a resurgent MI side close.

Mumbai Indians have surprised many cricket followers around the world

From Mumbai's perspective, it was yet another team performance that had every member of the playing XI contributing in one way or another, to help their side win the title back from KKR's grasp. With their 10th victory in their last 11 games, MI completed the turnaround by winning the prestigious crown.

IPL 2015, Match 51: Five Things We Learned From Mumbai Indians' Victory Over Kolkata Knight Riders

Pollard bowled a brilliant last over, to win it for Mumbai

Mumbai Indians (MI) kept their hopes of making it to the playoffs alive, overcoming a really strong Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) side by 5 runs in Match 51 of this season's Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL).

It turned out to be an enthralling game of cricket in the end, with both sides making mistakes throughout their respective batting and bowling innings and the crowd at the Wankhede Stadium surely got their moneys worth.

It was a must win game for Mumbai while Kolkata, with 15 points to their name, were not in a do-or-die situation.

Gautam Gambhir won the toss and chose to bowl first on a slightly two-paced Wankhede track. The visitors brought in Shakib Al Hasan for Brad Hogg and Morne Morkel came in place of Johan Botha, as the two changes in personnel for the Knight Riders.

Mumbai, as we have seen for much of this season already, simply do not have too many resources to call upon, and ended up bringing Vinay Kumar back into the playing XI, at the expense of Jasprit Bumrah, who failed to harness the opportunity he was handed against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) four nights back.

The hosts started off their innings at a good clip, with Parthiv Patel leading the way and getting those boundaries early on in the innings. Lendl Simmons never got his timing right on the night, and was dismissed after scoring just 14 (16).

Parthiv played a loose shot after looking so good for his 21 (13), and Mumbai were in a spot of bother when their openers fell in subsequent overs of their innings.

Things didn't get better thereafter, either, with Ambati Rayudu playing a careless shot and holding out at long-off; Rohit Sharma batted really well while he was in the middle, scoring 30 (21) and played a huge role in steadying the MI ship along with Kieron Pollard.

The Mumbai batsman, however, was dismissed by an absolute peach from Sunil Narine, who didn't threaten too much otherwise, as he was taken for 38 off his four overs.

With the home side reeling at 79/4 in the 12th over, it was down to Pollard to strike some lusty blows and conjure up a total somewhere close to 150; however, it was the other way around last night, with Pollard struggling to find his touch and Hardik Pandya playing the innings of an aggressor.

Pandya's innings was a real mature one, as he soaked up the pressure early on in the innings and went for the boundaries only after the 15th over.

The home side scored 72 off the last five overs, finishing with 171/4 at the end of 20 overs. It was a competitive total that would have made Mumbai happier than KKR, for whom it was a crime to concede so many runs.

172, though, was not a big target by any means, and with the kind of firepower and depth the visitors' batting lineup exuded, you had to fancy them to get the victory and put MI out of the reckoning for the playoffs.

However, it really didn't pan out that way and Mumbai's bowlers did enough to keep their side in it throughout Kolkata's innings.

They kept chipping away at the wickets, though the trio of Yusuf Pathan 52 (38), Gambhir 38 (29) and Shakib 23 (15) kept hitting the boundaries and never allowed that required run-rate to jump over 10.

Therefore, it was pressure on Mumbai, whose bowling attack, apart from Lasith Malinga, flattered to deceive: Harbhajan Singh had an ordinary outing; Vinay didn't threaten his former IPL side, and was quite lucky to dismiss Shakib; Jagadeesha Suchith just bowled the two overs, but got the crucial wicket of Gambhir, and Mitchell McClenaghan didn't get his lines right, though he dismissed Suryakumar Yadav at a crucial juncture in the game.

The home side had to thank Pollard for the way he came and delivered that final over, winning the game for his side and keeping their hopes of making it to the playoffs alive.

In hindsight, what did we learn from a decent MI performance? Read on...

Mumbai, without a shadow of doubt, got out of jail

Mumbai definitely felt the pressure of a must win game last night, and it had an impeding effect on their overall performance.

They got over the line in the end, but not by their own brilliance.

I have repeatedly felt that Mumbai's strongest suit was their batting, and therefore, should be injecting an extra batsman in their playing XI, instead of Vinay, who simply has not done well.

Pandya did bail them out of trouble yesterday, but what if Pollard was dismissed by the barrage of short-deliveries he had to deal with from the KKR bowlers? Or, what if the youngster did something rash, in a bid to up the scoring rate?

An extra batsman in such a situation can always be advantageous, but the MI think-tank has simply been hesitant to go for an extra batsman after the initial few games of the ongoing season. Mumbai's team selection was their first mistake on the night.

It has been so surprising to see Mumbai drop as many catches as they have done this season: the likes of Harbhajan usually pose a safe pair of hands, but has dropped many a catch already this IPL.

Mumbai got out of jail on many an occasion last night

Yesterday it was the turn of Pandya to put down a dolly from Gambhir, who wanted to hit Suchith out of the attack. Thankfully for Pandya and Mumbai, the Delhi Southpaw played a reckless shot in the very next delivery and threw his wicket away; that wicket came at a time when KKR, with Pathan and Gambhir in the middle, threatened to take the game away from the home side. Gambhir's wicket was the second time that MI got a reprieve last night.

On another day, it could have cost the home side. But they need to reflect on these aspects of their game before taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Sunday.

The home side didn't get their strategy right with the bat

Having been put into bat by the visitors, the onus was on Mumbai to set a target in excess of 180 at the very least.

KKR though, with their potent bowling attack, were never going to make it easy for the hosts.

Gambhir rotated his bowlers well, and they responded promptly to their skipper's tactics.

Lendl Simmons couldn't set a solid platform for his side, as he has done previously

Mumbai batsmen - Simmons, Parthiv and Rayudu, in particular - gave you the impression that they were trying too hard and wanted to dominate the KKR attack, which was not the right ploy.

MI, throughout this IPL, have done well when they have batted first and not lost many wickets in the first half of their innings.

However, for some reason, last night they didn't want to stay in the crease for long and thereby put pressure on the KKR bowlers to dismiss them; instead, they gifted them with wickets and played it into the visitors' hands, until Pandya and Pollard got into a partnership of sorts for the fifth wicket.

Rayudu, who has done really well over the last five games, was a major disappointment for me. He simply didn't need to play such a stroke when his side had lost 2 wickets for less than 50 runs, and he joined Rohit in the middle only five balls earlier.

Maybe MI felt that, with Rohit holding fort at the other end, one batsman in every partnership needed to be aggressive and concentrate on scoring quick runs, but the shots they played were reckless and I don't think it was the right way to do it.

Pollard-Pandya partnership turned the game on its head

Continuing on from the last point, Mumbai lost three wickets with just 47 on the board and had 81 balls more to play in their innings.

Pollard walked into bat at No.5, and probably was the crucial batsman in his partnership with Rohit. The hard-hitting West Indian is at his lethal best when he doesn't have to worry about preserving his wicket, but it was not a viable scenario for him to come in.

Rohit did bat well while he was there in the middle but, again, he got out at totally the wrong stage of MI's innings that just about started gathering momentum.

Pandya's partnership with Pollard was mighty pivotal in the context of the game

The scorecard read 79/4 in the 12th over when the MI skipper was castled by Narine, with an unplayable carom ball that was bowled at the right pace, length and line, giving no chance for Rohit to survive.

It was a precarious situation for the home side that was fighting for its life, and lost by far the most significant batsman in the side.

Pandya, though, came in and stemmed the flow of wickets, which was the marquee feature of his innings last night.

He scored 4 runs from his first 6 balls, and his first boundary came in 7th ball he faced. The period from 12th to the 15th or even the 16th over, was going to be crucial to Mumbai, who had to ensure that they didn't lose one more wicket. And Pandya and Pollard were sensible in the way they managed it.

Now, while Pandya played 'the' innings that propelled Mumbai's score to 171, let us not forget the anchor role played to perfection by Pollard at the other end. He didn't score too many runs, and ended up with only 33 (38), but his presence in the middle was crucial to Mumbai and made sure that KKR couldn't breathe easy.

It was that dimension of this partnership which helped Pandya to feed off the situation and use it to his, as well as Mumbai's, advantage.

Pollard and Pandya put together a 92-run partnership in 50 balls for the 5th wicket, and took MI to a total that they could compete with. It was a pivotal partnership in the overall context of the game, and it is safe to say KKR didn't see that coming.

Rohit's captaincy was audacious and spot on

Rohit was spot on with his bowling changes last night

It can be difficult for a captain when his side is relying on one or two bowlers heavily, and the others in the bowling attack are contributing very little to the team's cause.

Rohit has been in that situation on many an occasion this season; he has had to be precise and clever with his bowling changes, and yesterday, in particular, he shone in that aspect of his leadership.

He didn't have a big total to play with and had to go for wickets against a very long KKR batting lineup.

Rohit once again relied on Malinga for wickets, and the unorthodox Sri Lankan quickie bowled 2 of his overs right at the beginning of the innings.

McClenaghan too, bowled 2 of his overs at the beginning of the innings, which meant that two of MI's best bowlers completed half their quota of overs well before the halfway mark in KKR's innings and more importantly, hadn't picked up a single wicket.

Therefore, the likes of Vinay and Suchith had to be relied on more than in the former games, while wickets were also expected of Harbhajan, who had two ordinary games back-to-back against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Royal Challengers.

The Knight Riders did well to not lose wickets during the early part of their innings, which put extreme pressure on the home side.

Rohit kept looking for wickets and his bowlers, though fortunate, responded with crucial blows of Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey, who was run out by Simmons, both the wickets falling in the sixth over of the visitors' innings.

Even after the fall of the two Karnataka batsmen in the same over, Rohit didn't relent and kept bowling Harbhajan from one end. The Turbanator finished his 4 overs on the trot and, as aforementioned, didn't bowl as he would have liked, finishing with figures of 4-0-31-1.

Suchith picked up Gambhir in his second over, and the 11th over of KKR's innings, but the visitors still had Shakib, Andre Russell and S Yadav in the hut and were well in control of chase too, needing a mere 84 from the last 9 overs.

Pathan stood tall and though he didn't play as explosively as he usually does, his presence in the middle was crucial in the overall context of the game.

Rohit, therefore, had to bring McClenaghan and Malinga back for their respective second spells as early as the 14th and 16th over.

At the other end, he was being let down by Vinay, who, even though he picked up Shakib's wicket, was expensive in his last over - KKR's 17th - which went for 14 runs and got the equation firmly in favor of the visitors.

The decision to bowl Malinga in the 16th over paid off, and he picked up Russell for just 2, despite conceding 8 runs.

McClenaghan bowled the 18th over and dismissed S Yadav, who threatened to kill MI's hopes of making it to the playoffs. He had scored 11 from his first 4 deliveries, including a couple of boundaries, but the New Zealand seamer picked him up in the first delivery of his final over.

It was then that it got a bit dicey for Rohit, who had to search for a bowler, apart from Suchith and Pandya, to bowl one of the two overs - 19th and 20th.

He brought Malinga on for the penultimate over, which cost 9 runs for the home side, and it was massive in the context of the game. Rohit, though, didn't have an option, as he only had 21 runs to play with in the final two overs.

Instead of going to Pandya or Suchith for the final over, Rohit took the gamble of turning to Pollard, who, it has to be said, was extremely calm under pressure. He got Pathan's wicket in the very first delivery of his over, and it felt like the game had come under the home side's control.

However, in the next delivery Umesh Yadav scored a boundary thanks to some flimsy fielding from Malinga at short fine-leg, and the game was not over yet, with KKR needing 8 runs from the final 4 deliveries.

Pollard was calmness personified, though, and bowled brilliantly to Piyush Chawla, who couldn't put bat to ball in almost every one of the deliveries he faced in his innings last night.

While you could complement the bowlers for performing in the manner they did, Rohit's captaincy was rather commendable and his tactical decisions proved critical to Mumbai's victory.

The Indians once again showed their adeptness in winning a close game

Mumbai have been excellent in winning cliffhangers this season

Mumbai came out on top in what happened to be a very close game to call. It was far from a clinical performance from Rohit's men, but, in crucial moments of the game, they held their nerve and continued to pick wickets.

Pollard - in his post-match interview - mentioned that it was important for them to get over the line, no matter how they managed it, and the manner of yesterday's victory will give them a great deal of confidence going into the final league game that, without a smidgen of skepticism, will have a lot riding on it too.

Final Thought

MI still need a few results to go their way in order for them to make it to the playoffs.

However, having won yesterday's game, their confidence must be quite high, heading into the game against SRH on Sunday.

They are yet to get their team combination right, but if their batting can fire, Mumbai will fancy their chances of winning that last game and hopefully, other results going their way, make it to the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.

IPL 2015, Match 51 Preview: Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders

Mumbai Indians ought to sort out their fielding woes

Mumbai Indians (MI) play host to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in Match 51 of this season's Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL), in what will be their final home game for this campaign.

Mumbai are one of the four IPL teams that have a designated home ground and played all their home games on the same venue. But Rohit Sharma's men haven't used it to their advantage, losing three of the six games they have played at the Wankhede Stadium so far.

The Indians come into this game on the back of a demoralizing defeat against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) last Sunday, as their bowling attack was ripped to shreds by a certain AB de Villiers, whose 133 (59) propelled his side to 235/1 and victory was never in doubt once they put on such a gargantuan total on the board.

The Knight Riders, on the other hand, played a very good game of T20 cricket last Saturday against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), who had the game firmly within their grasp until Andre Russell came into bat and swung the game on its ahead.

The West Indian's 51 (19) went a long way in his side clinching victory in the last over of that game, taking them into second place and needing one more victory, ideally, from their remaining two games, to make it to the playoffs.

Will they manage to seal their fate on Thursday, as well as bring an end to MI's hopes of making it to the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season?

Mumbai

Mumbai have done really well over the last fortnight, which has given them a realistic chance of making it to the IPL playoffs this season too.

Parthiv and Simmons need to continue delivering for their side

They had won five games on the bounce before losing to RCB, and things looked to be working in their favor. The batting lineup has fired consistently over the last fortnight; the bowling attack, led by Lasith Malinga, has played a massive role in at least three of Mumbai's six victories so far; the fielding, though, has been abysmal and it cost them last Sunday, when Virat Kohli, after being dropped on 6 by Harbhajan Singh at first slip, made them pay heavily.

And the manner in which they lost to the Challengers would have been really hard to take: they didn't do much wrong, but de Villiers' innings simply blew them away. It was good to see Mumbai being organized in the way they went about chasing that massive 236, which was always going to elude them, however.

Therefore, tomorrow night's fixture against KKR is going to be a massive test of Mumbai's fortitude, as well as their cricketing skills.

At the beginning of the season, MI were playing shambolic cricket and had to sort out their own problems, in order to enhance their chances of winning a game.

That is no longer the case, as they found out last Sunday; they got to have specific plans for their upcoming opponents - KKR and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) - and nullify the potential threats both those teams carry.

Talking of threats, Knight Riders have them in plenty: Sunil Narine's bowling action has been cleared for the second time this season, and he came back with a bang against KXIP; Russel is enjoying a sublime IPL season, both with the bat and ball and, as a side, there aren't too many chinks in the Knight Riders' armor.

Mumbai actually picked a good side against RCB, as they dropped Vinay Kumar, who has had a poor season with the ball, picking up just three wickets in 9 outings and conceding close to 8.5 runs-per-over, and instilled their faith in Jasprit Bumrah, a selection that, however, didn't make any difference.

Going into these last two games, it is paramount that MI play with the net-run-rate in their mind. Their current net-run-rate is -0.302 and it could well decide whether they progress into the playoffs or not.

Therefore, Ricky Ponting and company might well have to inject another batsman into the playing XI, obviously in place of Bumrah, and utilize the handy bowling skills of Kieron Pollard for that fifth bowler slot.

I cannot think of any other way in which Mumbai can go about strengthening their side ahead of tomorrow's game, which is a must-win really.

The 1-time IPL winners need to keep doing the things that have brought them success this season, but got to be a bit innovative and spontaneous from here on, if they are to make their way into the playoffs.

KKR are a very good side and, as aforementioned, MI got to factor in that before the first ball is bowled tomorrow.

Kolkata

The Knight Riders have been far from prolific when playing away from the Eden Gardens, winning a mere two, which came against Delhi Daredevils (DD) and Kings XI, of the five away games they have played so far this season.

Andre Russell has been a massive player for Kolkata this season

The likes of Robin Uthappa, Russell and their skipper Gautam Gambhir, have been the leading lights of KKR's batting lineup.

The trio of Yusuf Pathan, Manish Pandey and Suryakumar Yadav haven't got going and failed to replicate their form from last season.

That is one area where Mumbai could find some joy against tomorrow's visitors, whose middle order has been brittle and Russell has bailed them out of tight situations in a few games.

While the batting hasn't exactly fired as a unit, the bowling attack has done well in most of its side's games this season.

Piyush Chawla and Russell are the leading wicket-takers for KKR, with 11 wickets each and both their economy rates are under 8 runs-per-over, and have been vital to their team's success.

Kolkata's strength lies in the plethora of spinners they have at their disposal and, with Narine coming back into the side, the bowling attack can only get better, challenging the Mumbai batsmen to take them on in a game that they simply need to win.

Going into tomorrow's game, KKR have got the bowling arsenal to shut down Mumbai at the top of the order, where Parthiv Patel and Lendl Simmons have been consistent as an opening pair over the last 6-7 games for the Indians.

If the Knight Riders, however, can dislodge the Parthiv-Simmons duo, Mumbai's middle order, but for Ambati Rayudu, has flattered to deceive and remains a major worry for tomorrow's hosts ahead of the final two league games.

As a unit, the Knight Riders have been more consistent than their Thursday's opponents and will be under no pressure whatsoever going into tomorrow's game.

Mumbai will have to make the running but Gambhir, who has consistently proven his adeptness in getting the best out of his spinners, will want to continue being proactive as a skipper and ensure his side seals a place in the last four before their final league game against the Rajasthan Royals (RR) this Saturday.

Final Thought

It will definitely be advantage KKR, at least to start off with, who have 15 points to their name and are sitting pretty in second place on the IPL points table.

They have better resources in personnel compared to the hosts, and that could have a huge bearing in what is a crunch game for Mumbai.

Do not write off the hosts, though, who have been dogged and showed their ability to win T20 games whenever they have had their backs to the wall in recent seasons.

This, however, will be a different proposition and it remains to be seen how Rohit's men react to it.