Published: May 14, 2017, 12:13 AM (IST)
Edited: May 14, 2017, 03:44 AM (IST)
Needing 174 runs to win against Mumbai Indians (MI), Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) made a mess of the chase in match No. 54 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017. Constant falling of wickets, poor on-field management and some excellent bowling on part of Mumbai Indians saw Kolkata Knight Riders lose the plot all across the innings. It was only Manish Pandey and Colin de Grandhomme who kept the home side in the foray but bowed down to the brilliance of Hardik Pandya. This was Mumbai Indians’s 100th T20 win, interestingly their first ever win was also against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens. With this win Mumbai Indians maintain their supremacy on top of the table, even though KKR have qualified it would be interesting to see whether they are placed third or fourth. Full Cricket Scorecard: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) vs Mumbai Indians (MI), IPL 2017, Match 54
Unlike the last match versus Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) experimentation with Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn did not work. Narine trying to hook Tim Southee gave a simple catch to Krunal Pandya standing at mid off for duck. Meanwhile Chris Lynn continued his onslaught on the Mumbai Indians’ bowling regardless of whatever was happening on the other end.
Gautam Gambhir who joined Lynn in the middle also looked in aggressive mode early into his innings Gambhir who was carving Mitchell Johnson for sixes gave his wicket away in a spur of the moment shot. Gambhir trying to pull the ball in the fifth over managed a thick top edge that saw the ball lob into the air straight into the hands of Karn Sharma for a 16 ball 21.
Robin Uthappa who had a poor day with the gloves joined Lynn in the middle. Uthappa’s stay in the middle lasted just 4 balls, before he was caught by Rohit Sharma at extra cover off Karn Sharma. Lynn’s belligerence lasted just 14 balls as Vinay Kumar playing his first match this season scalped him up. Lynn trying to go over deep midwicket ended up holding out to Jagadesha Suchith for 24.
Soon in no time, Kolkata Knight Riders had two new batsmen in the middle; Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan. Pathan who has shown sparks of brilliance managed to provide the KKR fans with some fireworks early into this innings. Pathan after a few sixes for the nth time failed this season for Kolkata Knight Riders. Trying to thump Vinay Kumar over long-on Pathan gave a simple catch to Hardik Pandya for 20.
Newman in the middle Colin de Grandhomme provided some calmness to a faltering innings hitting few copy book style boundaries past point. De Grandhomme along with Pandey kept Kolkata Knight Riders in chase with a level headed approach amidst all the carnage. De Grandhomme who looked to take the game away from Mumbai Indians was raked up Hardik Pandya. Pandya who came on to bowl his first over, deceived de Grandhomme for pace that saw his middle stump rock-back. De Grandhomme made 29 off 16.
Pandey who was the only recognised batsman for KKR, kept his side in the reckoning for a while. With KKR needing 25 off 18, Pandey hold out to Suchith for run-a-all 33. Krunal grabbed his second wicket of the evening. Kuldeep Yadav who played a resilient knock managed 16 off 15 balls before giving Rayudu an easy catch. His wicket was the final nail in the coffin for KKR who went on to lose the match by 9 runs.
Earlier in the day, rain ensured that the toss got delayed due to rain. MI asked to bat first managed 173 runs thanks to fifties from Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu. At one point it was looking MI would reach 200 but Trent Boult and Ankit Rajpoot’s fine spells of bowling prevented that.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indians 173 for 5 in 20 overs (Saurabh Tiwary 52, Ambati Rayudu 63 ; Trent Boult 2 for 30 ) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 164 for 8 in 20 overs ( Manish Pandey 33, Colin de Grandhomme 29 ; Hardik Pandya 2 for 22) by 9 runs.
