Mumbai Indians aim for ninth consecutive win over deflated Kolkata Knight Riders

When Rohit Sharma walks out at the toss at Eden Gardens on Sunday night, he'd be looking to extend Mumbai Indians' eight-match unbeaten run over Kolkata Knight Riders. But if there's ever a night for the hosts to change that statistic, it would be Sunday. Languishing at the sixth place with eight points, and needing victories in their last three matches to even dream of a playoff spot, Knight Riders can bid the season goodbye if they lose their seventh successive IPL game, and fifth successive at home.

After Piyush Chawla and Sunil Narine found turn against Rajasthan Royals, Dinesh Karthik may consider bringing Kuldeep Yadav back after he has spent two games in the dugout. That their pacers have been poor in the Powerplay, taking only six wickets in the period, is an extra reason for Karthik to revert to Knight Riders' old formula of spin.

For Mumbai, just one victory in their final three games would be enough for the playoffs, but they'll be aiming a top-two finish, and a chance to play Qualifier 1 at the Chepauk - a ground where they haven't lost an IPL match since May 2011. Mumbai and India fans alike would've enjoyed Rohit's maiden half-century of the season in their convincing win over Chennai Super Kings, and both Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya could inflict damage on Knight Riders' pace bowlers at a ground where the ball travels far.

Lasith Malinga comes into the contest with a four-for in his last match and, in Krunal Pandya and Rahul Chahar, Mumbai have potent spin options to match Knight Riders player-for-player. Thus it's not much of a surprise that Mumbai start as clear favourites, but they'll remain wary of the chutzpah that Knight Riders will come in with, given they have nothing more to lose.

Left-arm fast bowler Beuran Hendricks, Mumbai's replacement for the injured Alzarri Joseph, has linked up with the team but is unlikely to get a look-in unless Malinga is rested. Mumbai left-arm spinner Anukul Roy made a promising IPL debut with 1 for 11 in Chennai and has impressed enough to merit another opportunity.

Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Chris Lynn, 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Shubman Gill, 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Andre Russell, 6 Dinesh Karthik, 7 Rinku Singh, 8 Carlos Brathwaite, 9 Piyush Chawla, 10 Kuldeep Yadav, 11 Prasidh Krishna

Mumbai Indians: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Rohit Sharma (capt), 3 Evin Lewis, 4 Suryakumar Yadav, 5 Krunal Pandya, 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Kieron Pollard, 8 Anukul Roy, 9 Rahul Chahar, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Jasprit Bumrah