The Mumbai Indians go head to head with the reigning Champions the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday, as the qualifying process in the 2015 Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL) reaches fever pitch.
Although Mumbai are currently in sixth position in the table, they still have a chance of making it through to the semi-finals, and a chance to repeat their title success of 2013.
However, it would appear to have any realistic chance of progressing to the knockout phase, that they need to win both remaining games. That Mumbai are in with a chance of qualification is due to some great resilience by the side, as they lost their first four matches, and five of their first six.
After Thursday’s home match against the Knight Riders, Mumbai play in the final match of the qualifying stage on Sunday away to the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Kolkata have won the IPL title in two of the last three season, and are sitting in second place in the table, with 15 points from their 12 games. Following Chennai’s defeat on Tuesday against the eliminated Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata can leap to the top of the table, if they beat the Indians at the Wankhede.
The two teams met in the opening fixture of the 2015 tournament, when the Knight Riders took the honours with a 7-wicket victory with 9-balls remaining of their allotted 20 overs. A brilliant 98 not out by Rohit Sharma off of 65 balls, allowed Mumbai to set a challenging total of 168-3.
However, Mumbai’s back up bowlers were unable to contain the trio of Indian players, Gambhir, Pandey and Yadav all made important contributions, and the Champions were able to open the defence of their title with a good win.
Mumbai’s loss to the Royal Challengers Bangalore, brought an end to a run of five successive victories in the 2015 competition. Kolkata themselves have won their last three fixtures, as they have climbed the table steadily while others have been faltering.