Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL 2017 Qualifier 2: Live streaming information, TV listings, team news and preview

Table-toppers Mumbai take on Kolkata in Bengaluru for a spot in the final on Friday.

Gautam Gambhir
Gambhir steered KKR past the line in the rain-curtailed eliminator on Wednesday Reuters

Mumbai Indians take on Kolkata Knight Riders in the Qualifier 2 of Indian Premier League 2017 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday.

While Mumbai lost their Qualifier 1 encounter to Rising Pune Supergiant, who made the final on Tuesday, Kolkata managed to survive elimination after they beat defending champion Sunrisers Hyderabad in a rain-curtailed knockout match in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

While both teams will be geared up to join the Supergiant on Sunday, weather conditions will be key to today's clash as rain threat looms large in the South Indian city.

Mumbai would have been disappointed with their show at home in the Qualifier 1 following their inability to gun down a 163-run target on a slow track. Supergiant wicketkeeper-batsman MS Dhoni cut loose in the final overs, helping the team add 41 runs in the last two overs and Rohit Sharma will want better death bowling performance from his bowling unit tonight.

Can Rohit step up?

However, Mumbai's key area of concern has been the lack of big runs from Rohit. It will be important for the India opener to contribute big and lead from the front, just like the way his counterpart, Gautam Gambhir, has been doing.

The Men in Blue will be tempted to bring in their experienced campaigner Harbhajan Singh as Chinnaswamy track will be on the slower side, assisting spinners. The likes of Lasith Malinga and Jasprit Bumrah, who have quite a lot of variations up their sleeves, will also relish the conditions.

Narine-Lynn at the top?

With rain expected to play a big role tonight, the toss will become crucial. Teams batting first will look to go big early and KKR will have the edge if it is another rain-curtailed encounter as they have the likes of Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine, who have it in them to fire from the word go.

MI

Possible XI: Rohit (c), Patel (wk), Simmons, Rana, Pollard, Krunal, Hardik, Harbhajan, McCleneghan, Malinga, Bumrah

KKR

Possible XI: Gambhir (c), Narine, Lynn, Uthappa (wk), Pathan, Suryakumar, Kuldeep, Piyush, Coulter-Nile, Umesh, Boult

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