Kolkata Knight Riders have come out in the second half of the IPL 2021 with a mission it seems . It once again produced a clinical performance for the second successive game and enter the top-four in the points table in style . Playing fearless brand of cricket and powered by new opening find Venkatesh Iyer, KKR thrashed Mumbai By 7 wickets and 29 balls to spare. A win that ensures that they have a good – run – rate , so crucial while sealing the play-offs spot when points separating teams are not much.
Iyer (53 off 30), playing his second IPL game, displayed the wide range of his strokes alongside Rahul Tripathi (74 not out off 42) to enable KKR to chase MI’s modest total of 155 for six.
Shubman Gill and Iyer gave KKR another flying start with the first two overs bowled by Trent Boult and Adam Milne going for 15 runs each. Gill flicked Boult for a delightful six while Iyer pulled the New Zealand pace spearhead to set the tone for the rest of the innings.
While Jasprit Bumrah found Gill’s stumps in the third over, Iyer went on to play a memorable knock comprising four boundaries and three sixes. Iyer and Tripathi shared an 88-run stand for the second wicket which completely shut the door on MI, who suffered their second loss since IPL’s resumption.
Jasprit Bumrah took all the three KKR wickets but went for 43 runs in his three overs
Earlier Quinton de Kock struck an entertaining 55 for MI before KKR bowlers bounced back in the last 10 overs, conceding 75 runs and taking five wickets.
MI skipper Rohit Sharma (33 off 30) got off the innings in scintillating fashion, caressing a Nitish Rana delivery on to the mid-off boundary. The skipper, who was in sublime touch in the Tests in England, had not played the opening game against CSK.
Star all-rounder Hardik Pandya did not start once again, raising questions about his fitness. Rohit took the attack to mystery spinner Varun Charkravarthy with two consecutive fours in opening two deliveries of the fourth over.
With de Kock going hammer and tongs, Rohit played the second fiddle and scored 33 runs off 30 balls before Narine got his man for the ninth time in T20s, holing out to Shubman Gill at the boundary.
Here’s how the #VIVOIPL Points Table looks after Match 34 ? #MIvKKR pic.twitter.com/pM3jh5pme6
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) September 23, 2021
KKR pulled things back between 10-15 overs, conceding only 26 runs and picked up two wickets. Pollard, as he often does, came up with much needed big hits in the last five overs, including a flat batted six over mid wicket in Krishna’s 18-run over.
Ferguson bowled a brilliant last over for KKR, removing the dangerous duo of Pollard and Krunal Pandya (12) at the cost of only six runs. MI collected 49 runs from the last five overs.
