Match 2 of IPL 2026 lands at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday, March 29 at 7:30 PM IST, as the Mumbai Indians take on the Kolkata Knight Riders. MI holds a commanding 24-11 head-to-head record and is playing at their home fortress, where Rohit Sharma alone has scored over 2,500 IPL runs.
KKR walks in here short on pace. Akash Deep, Matheesha Pathirana, and Harshit Rana are all unavailable through injury, leaving their bowling attack looking thin. MI, on the other hand, has Bumrah back and a settled top order ready to fire.
KKR holds a 3-2 edge in the last five meetings, including two wins in 2024. But Wankhede is MI territory, and on a night where dew is expected, the home side starts as clear favourites.
MI vs KKR Match Preview
MI host KKR at Wankhede in the second IPL 2026 game, a ground where MI’s numbers and home record make them strong favourites.
| Details | Information |
|---|---|
| Match | Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders, 2nd Match |
| Date | 29 March 2026 |
| Time | 7:30 PM IST (Night) |
| Venue | Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai |
| Series | Indian Premier League 2026 |
| Umpires | Anish Sahasrabudhe, Saidharshan Kumar |
| TV Umpire | Nitin Menon |
| Match Referee | Shakti Singh |
Wankhede Stadium: Pitch and Weather
A batter’s paradise with short square boundaries and a dew-soaked second innings that almost always favours the chasing side.
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Pitch Type | Batting-friendly, good bounce, fast outfield |
| Total IPL Matches at Venue | 123 |
| Avg 1st Innings Score | ~170 |
| Bat First Wins | 56 |
| Chase Wins | 67 |
| Highest IPL Total Here | 235/1 |
| Square Boundary | ~64 metres |
| Straight Boundary | Up to 82 metres |
| Dew Factor | Heavy dew expected in second innings |
| Weather | Warm and humid; no sharp temperature drop expected |
| Overall | Chasers hold the statistical edge; dew tips the scales further |
Ask any bowler who has defended a total at Wankhede and the answer is usually the same: dew made it impossible. The surface is true throughout, gives good bounce, and with boundaries as short as 64 metres square, scoring is never an issue. The average first innings score in IPL here is around 170, and teams need close to 200 to feel safe. Chasing teams have won 67 of 123 IPL games at this ground.
The weather on match night will be warm and humid. Since temperatures are not expected to drop significantly, dew will settle in by the second innings, making the ball hard to grip. Both captains know this. Whoever wins the toss will almost certainly bowl first.
Dream11 Team for MI vs KKR
Source: Dream11
| Player | Team | Role | Matches | Runs/Wkts | Avg/Econ | SR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suryakumar Yadav | MI | Batter | 10 | 478 runs | Avg 79.67 | 179.02 |
| Rohit Sharma | MI | Batter | 10 | 362 runs | Avg 40.22 | 151.46 |
| Ajinkya Rahane | KKR | Batter | 10 | 305 runs | Avg 38.13 | 144.54 |
| Angkrish Raghuvanshi | KKR | Batter | 9 | 222 runs | Avg 31.71 | 138.75 |
| Jasprit Bumrah | MI | Bowler | 10 | 17 wkts | Econ 6.18 | 13.88 |
| Trent Boult | MI | Bowler | 10 | 17 wkts | Econ 8.68 | 13.29 |
| Varun Chakravarthy | KKR | Bowler | 10 | 14 wkts | Econ 7.97 | 16.71 |
| Vaibhav Arora | KKR | Bowler | 10 | 14 wkts | Econ 10.00 | 15.21 |
Suryakumar Yadav is the standout pick of this fixture. An average of 79.67 and a strike rate of 179.02 across 10 matches puts him in a different class. Rohit Sharma, the all-time leading IPL run-scorer at Wankhede with over 2,500 runs at this ground, is the steady pick alongside him with 362 runs at an average of 40.22. From KKR, Rahane is the safer bet with 305 runs in 10 matches. Raghuvanshi has 222 in 9, but his strike rate of 138.75 is the lowest of the four listed batters.
Bumrah leads the bowling picks. Seventeen wickets in 10 matches at an economy of 6.18 make him the automatic choice. Boult matches him on wickets at 17 but costs more at 8.68. Varun Chakravarthy is KKR’s best bowling option with 14 wickets at an economy of 7.97. Vaibhav Arora has the same 14 wickets, but an economy of 10 is too expensive to justify in Dream11.
MI vs KKR Head-to-Head in IPL
MI owns this rivalry with 24 wins from 35 games, though KKR have bounced back to lead 3-2 in the last five meetings.
| Category | Stats |
|---|---|
| Total IPL Meetings | 35 |
| MI Wins | 24 |
| KKR Wins | 11 |
| Last 5 Meetings | KKR lead 3-2 |
| Most Runs (all-time) | Rohit Sharma – 967 runs | 29 innings | Avg: 40.29 | SR: 127.74 |
| Most Wickets (all-time) | Sunil Narine – 26 wkts | 24 innings | Econ: 6.93 |
| Highest Individual Score | Rohit Sharma 109* (12 May 2012, Eden Gardens) |
| Highest Team Total | KKR 232/2 (29 Apr 2019, Eden Gardens) |
| Lowest Team Total | KKR 67 all out (16 May 2008, Wankhede) |
| Best Bowling Figures | Bumrah 5/10 for MI (IPL 2022) |
| Last Meeting | MI won by 8 wkts; Rickelton 62*, Ashwani Kumar 4/24 (IPL 2025) |
MI’s most recent win came in March 2025 by 8 wickets with 43 balls to spare. KKR then won the next two meetings in 2024, by 18 runs and 24 runs respectively. Before that, MI won by 5 wickets with 14 balls remaining in April 2023. KKR’s biggest win in this run was a 52-run victory in May 2022.
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