Chris Lynn, KKR, IPL 2017, playoffs, Mumbai Indians
Chris Lynn will look to continue his strong form in IPL 2017IANS

The Kolkata Knight Riders will look to seal a playoff spot and with it virtually a top two place by beating the Mumbai Indians at the Eden Gardens in an IPL 2017 match on Saturday.

With both of these teams playing their final game of the league phase, neither will want to go into the playoffs on a losing run.

Both sides are coming off losses, and the key to clinching the IPL title is momentum.

So, which team will take momentum with them into the IPL 2017 playoffs?

If KKR bat first:

Will it be Sunil Narine or Gautam Gambhir that opens with Chris Lynn? Let's go with Gambhir.

The KKR skipper and Lynn put on a massive opening partnership of 94 runs, which sets the perfect platform for the rest of the batting lineup to take advantage.

Robin Uthappa comes in and scores a quickfire 34, while there is a blitz of a 22 from Yusuf Pathan as well.

With Colin de Grandhomme taking the MI bowlers to six-town in the final three overs, KKR finish their innings on 188.

Lendl Simmons and Parthiv Patel make a fast start in the chase, getting to 44 runs in 4.3 overs, before Parthiv is picked up by Narine.

Lendl Simmons, Mumbai Indians, Wriddhiman Saha, KXIP, IPL 2017
Lendl Simmons is a vital cog in the MI batting orderIANS

Nitish Rana finally finds some form after a bit of a barren run, and MI stay in the hunt with another nice partnership between Simmons and the left-hander.

When Rohit Sharma comes in, in the middle of the 12th over, the required run rate is a little over 11, and while the captain takes a while to get settled, he finds his range soon enough, and smooth as silk, Rohit leads MI to a win.

If MI bat first:

The six Powerplay overs yield 58 runs for MI, but with both their openers gone. Rana and Rohit, though, add 65 runs together, a little slowly, but the partnership keeps the Mumbai Indians on course for a strong total.

Kieron Pollard comes in and whacks a few sixes, so does Hardik Pandya, and with MI scoring at over 11 runs an over in the final five, the final total ends up at 179.

Gambhir and Lynn are unstoppable at the top of the order, and with these two batting like they are, the required run rate falls down below seven.

While Lynn falls for a 26-ball 58, Gambhir continues on and with Uthappa and then Manish Pandey, as KKR get to the target with ridiculous ease.

KKR assistant coach Simon Katich opens up