Kolkata Knight Riders have their fortunes in their own hand as they take on Mumbai Indians with in a must-win Indian Premier League game at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.

KKR defeated Kings XI Punjab to keep their play-off hopes alive till the last league and in what was a big shot in their arm, Sunrisers Hyderabad were defeated by Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday. This has simplified the equation for KKR.

Placed fourth, SRH have a net run-rate of +0.577, which is comparatively better than fifth placed KKR’s +0.173. The Dinesh Karthik-led side would have had an even bigger task on their hands had the 2016 winners won in Bengaluru. This means that the equation is simple: If KKR win, they are through to the playoffs irrespective of Kings XI Punjab’s result against Chennai Super Kings.

However, Mumbai Indians are on a roll. A win would take them to 18 points and achieve a better net run-rate than Chennai Super Kings and third-placed Delhi Capitals. It will also give them two shots at qualifying for the final.

With Chris Lynn and Shubhman Gill finding form and the marauding Andre Russell to follow, Karthik would fancy his chances at the batting-friendly Wankhede stadium.

Gill has been in fluent touch, registering back-to-back half-centuries against Mumbai Indians (at home) and Kings XI Punjab. His unbeaten 65 off 49 balls steered KKR to a seven-wicket victory against KXIP in Mohali on Friday.

If the likes of Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah, Krunal Pandya and leggie Rahul Chahar have to be taken to task, then KKR batsman will have to put come up with the goods with the bat. Russell, who has been consistently delivering for his team, will have to showcase his big-hitting prowess once again.

For KKR, their bowling has been a big concern. They have ripped apart by opponents in the powerplay as well as at the death over. Pacers Harry Gurney, Sandeep Warrier, Narine and Piyush Chawla will have to be tight. With the boundaries being short at the Wankhede Stadium, they have very little margin for error.

With the Wankhede wicket aiding slow bowlers, KKR may also be tempted to play Kuldeep Yadav, who has been dumped because of poor form.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians, who have already qualified for the playoffs will eye revenge after KKR after they had suffered a 34-run defeat in Kolkata in a high-scoring thriller. That too, after all-rounder Hardik Pandya blazed a breathtaking 91 off 34 balls.

The result of the match will also finalise Mumbai’s position and who they will face in the playoffs.

For the hosts, apart from Hardik (380 runs from 13 matches), South African Quinton De Kock (462 from 13) has been among the runs. Rohit Sharma (331 runs from 12), Suryakumar Yadav (292 runs from 13), Krunal Pandya (176 runs from 13) and Kieron Pollard (240 runs from 13) need to shoulder more responsibility up the order. However, an area of concern for head-coach Mahela Jayawardene would be the frequent middle-order collapses.

Head to Head

Played: 24

Mumbai won: 18

KKR won: 6

At Wankhede Stadium

Played: 8

Mumbai won: 7

KKR won: 1

Squads:

Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock, Suryakumar Yadav, Yuvraj Singh, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Mitchell McClenaghan, Mayank Markande, Rahul Chahar, Jasprit Bumrah, Anmolpreet Singh, Siddhesh Lad, Ankul Roy, Evin Lewis, Pankaj Jaiswal, Ben Cutting, Ishan Kishan, Aditya Tare, Rasikh Salam, Barinder Sran, Jayant Yadav, Beuran Hendricks and Lasith Malinga.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Dinesh Karthik (c), Robin Uthappa, Chris Lynn, Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Carlos Brathwaite, Sunil Narine, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Nikhil Naik, Joe Denly, Shrikant Mundhe, Nitish Rana, Sandeep Warrier, Prasidh Krishna, Lockie Ferguson, Harry Gurney, Matt Kelly, KC Cariappa and Yarra Prithviraj.