Picture : IPL / X
Kolkata Knight Riders added more misery to Mumbai Indians campaign as they beat them by 18 runs in rain curtailed Tata IPL 2024 encounter in Eden Gardens, Kolkata. With this win KKR powered their way into the play-offs in style .
In match reduced to 16 overs a side due to rain , MI skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to bowl first . It was rare failure for KKR openers Phil Salt ( 6) and Sunil Narine ( 0) . KKR Skipper Shreyas Iyer too did not last loon out for just 7.
But KKR found batsmen standing up during crisis – Venkatesh Iyer slammed a counter-attacking 42 ( 21 balls, 6 fours, 2 sixes) . Nitish Rana plying his first match scored 33 ( 23 balls , 3 fours, 1 six) before he was run-out . Big hitting Andre Russell chipped in with 24 ( 14 balls, 2 fours, 2 sixes) , Rinku Singh ( 20), Ramandeep Singh ( 17 ) . KKR just finding the important cameos towards the end of their innings and reaching 157/ 7 in their 16 overs.
MI Bowling : Nuwan Thushara 1/ 31 ( 3 overs), Jasprit Bumrah 2 / 39 ( 4 overs). Anshul Kamboj 1/ 24 ( 3 overs), Hardik Pandya 0/ 32 ( 3 overs), Piyush Chawla 2/ 28 ( 3 overs)
In the chase , MI openers Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma gave the platform with fine start . 65/ 1 in 6.5 overs before Rohit Sharma fell for yet another low score 19 ( 24 balls, 1 four, 1 six). Ishan Kishan scored a aggressive 40 ( 22 balls , 5 fours, 2 sixes) .
In- form Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed cheaply for 11. Tilak Varma looked in great touch 32 ( 17 balls , 5 fours , 1 six) and MI wanted him to stay but he did not .
The rest could not carry on – Skipper Hardik Pandya ( 2) , Tim David ( 0) . Added the MI woes. the stage stet by MI openers were blown away by middle-order batting display. Nehal Wadhera ( 3) , Naman Dhir ( 17) . Anshul Kamboj not out 2 and Piyush Chawla not out 1 were there at the end as MI could manage only 139/ 8 in their 16 overs.
KKR bowling : Vaibhav Arora 0/ 16 ( 2 overs), Mitchell Starc 0/ 11 ( 1 over) , Harshit Rana 2/ 34 ( 3 overs), Sunil Narine 1/ 21 ( 3 overs) , Varun Chakaravarthy 2/ 17 ( 4 overs) was brilliant, Andre Russell 2/ 34 ( 3 overs)
KKR will aim to push for a top-two finish in their last two games, against Gujarat Titans on Monday and Royal Challengers Bengaluru on May 19.
MI Impact Player: Rohit Sharma replaces Nuwan Thushara
KKR Impact Player: Vaibhav Arora replaces Nitish Rana
Match: IPL 2024, 60th Match
Venue: Kolkata | Date: May 11, 2024
