While Jasprit Bumrah picked a five-wicket haul and conceded only 10 runs for Mumbai Indians, it was Pat Cummins, Andre Russell and some superb fielding that came to KKR’s aide, as they registered a big 52-run win at the DY Patil Stadium.
Andre Russell also picked 2 wickets as KKR won with more than a couple of overs to spare.
Batting first, KKR got off to a blazing start with openers Ajinkya Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer taking the attack to the MI bowlers. Iyer, especially, was in the mood to score some quick runs and raced off the block during his cameo.
The KKR openers were scoring at around 10 runs an over with Jasprit Bumrah, Daniel Sams, Murugan Ashwin, Kumar Kartikeya and Riley Meredith, all went for plenty of runs. However, it was Kartikeya who got the first breakthrough in the sixth over. Iyer looked to go big again after hitting a six before that and miscued it, which was caught by Sams, sending the southpaw back for 43 off 24 balls.
After the powerplay, the run-rate dipped as Rahane and Nitish Rana struggled to keep the momentum going. And just after the midway point, KKR lost Rahane, bowled trying a reverse sweep off Kartikeya for 25 off 24 balls.
KKR were 87/2 with Shreyas Iyer joining Rana, and looking to up the ante in the second half of the innings. The duo put on 36 runs in just over 3 overs, before M Ashwin struck, cleaning up the captain for 6, caught behind sharply by Ishan Kishan.
Andre Russell finished off the 14th with a couple of lusty blows to get started, as KKR were setting up for the final 6. The big hitting Russell though last all of 5 balls and scored 9 before Bumrah sent him packing. Before the over was out Bumrah’s well directed bouncer claimed Rana’s wicket for 43.
Rinku Singh and Sheldon Jackson tried their best to take on the bowling but Bumrah struck again, picking his third wicket, as the wicket-keeper batter made his way back to the hut for 5. Off the third ball of the over, Burmah snared Pat Cummins’ wicket for 0 and then off the next delivery Sunil Narine found him too hot to handle, packed off for a golden duck, caught and bowled. Bumrah had one more over to go with 5 wickets in the bag but no hat-trick as Tim Southee negotiated that.
KKR were all over the place after a good start and Bumrah was the wrecker in chief. Southee was dismissed in the next over while Rinku Singh was doing his best to drive the score along on his own. KKR could add only 1 more to the total in the final over and finished with 165/9 with Rinku unbeaten on 23.
In response, Mumbai had a horror start as they lost Rohit Sharma in controversial fashion in the first over itself off the bowling of Tim Southee. Rohit got 2 and was adjudged to have edged it to the keeper but the replays showed a spike on Ultraedge before the ball got to the bat as well.
Ishan Kishan was attacking the bowling at his end, but MI’s batters weren’t able to support him, with Tilak Varma, the most in-form batter, falling cheaply, for 6, off Andre Russell in the fifth over. Kishan had the majority of the strike for a while after that and got the scoreboard moving with few crisp shots.
New man Ramandeep Singh needed to stick with the senior batter, but he also departed earlier than he would have liked, gone for 12 off Russell, with Rana taking the catch again. At the midway stage, MI were behind the required run-rate and would need to do something to special to dig out a win over here.
Kishan continued in his merry ways and got to his fifty, a fighting one but not before Varun Chakravarthy had sent Tim David back to the hut for 13 in the 13th over. MI huffed and puffed along the way for a little longer before Pat Cummins decided to match Bumrah’s third over.
Cummins conceded 2 runs, but returned with the wickets of Kishan for 51, Daniel Sams for 1 and Murugan Ashwin for 0 as KKR swung the game in their way. Nonetheless, MI still had Kieron Pollard in the middle, capable of winning a game from very difficult situations as well. But at 102/7, MI were staring at yet another big defeat.
A 10-run stand between Pollard and Kartikeya further slowed MI down before the spinner was run out in the 17th over, bringing KKR closer to the finish line. Off the next over, Jackson missed a difficult catch of Pollard off Russell’s bowling but the same delivery saw the big hitting MI batter get run out for 15 after some fantastic fielding by Shreyas.
The next delivery finished the contest as Bumrah was runout for a 0, as KKR registered big win. KKR won by 52 runs.
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