Resurgent Mumbai Indians, dodgy Kolkata Knight Riders face off in crunch clash

Kolkata, May 8 (CRICKETNMORE) - Back in the mix riding consecutive victories, a buoyant Mumbai Indians (MI) will cross swords with an iffy Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) for a second time in a space of three days in a crunch

Mumbai were on the verge of falling by the wayside after a series of reversals before they managed to pull through in the previous two games.While against Punjab it was a Rohit and Krunal Pandya blitz that kept them alive in the competition, a challenging 181/4 coupled with well-directed short balls during KKR's chase helped MI stay afloat and stake a claim for a playoffs berth.KKR looked like getting away with the points at various junctures of the match but planned short deliveries from the likes of Mitchell McClenaghan at the start and Hardik Pandya towards the end helped MI pick up wickets at regular intervals as well as break crucial partnerships.

Given the role of an opening batsman, Suryakumar Yadav has been a revelation for MI, scoring as many as four half centuries in 10 matches. The 27-year-old former KKR player is MI's highest run-getter amassing 399 at 39.90.One concern for Rohit would be MI's middle order which continued to struggle against KKR and had it not been for Hardik's innovative shots at the end, they would have not managed to post 181 despite getting off to an explosive start.MI also lack depth in bowling and Robin Uthappa almost exposed that in the last match.