Chasing 153, Riders were 122/4 after 15 overs, but they crumbled at the death to give MI an unlikely win. Suryakumar Yadav’s half-century and Andre Russell’s fifer were the highlights of the first innings where MI got 152. Nitish Rana scored 57, while Rahul Chahar’s four-fer to go with some extremely tight bowling from the others helped MI pull off a miraculous win.
It was hara-kiri of the highest order from Kolkata Knight Riders. They had the match in the bag long before it was even done, but somehow, they found a way to lose the game. From 122/3 in 14.5, needing 31 off 31 balls, it looked like a cakewalk for Eoin Morgan and Co. However, the Mumbai Indians bowlers fought back magnificently to pull the game back and eventually drive home with a 10-run win.
Both the MI and KKR innings had a similar progression. None of the two power-packed middle-orders got going. Two batters on each side did the bulk of the scoring. It was tough for the new batsman to start playing shots straight away, but KKR would be kicking themselves. They most probably dominated the game for 35 overs and some shoddy batting at the end cost them the game.
Earlier in the day, Eoin Morgan won the toss and opted to chase. The KKR team management and players had their tactics right on point. They threw five overs of spin in the powerplay as they knew the returning Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma aren’t the best of starters against the slow bowlers. The move paid off as Varun Chakravarthy prized out de Kock in the second over.
Suryakumar Yadav walked out to the middle and infused some life into the MI innings. He whacked Harbhajan Singh for three fours in an over to set the tone for his innings. MI reached 42/1 at the end of the powerplay. Rohit Sharma had started decently at the other end too. However, when the field spread out, the MI skipper couldn’t force the pace and find the fence regularly. However, that was done by Yadav, who batted beautifully and raced away to a half-century which came off 33 balls.
He was dismissed in the very next over (11th over) as he holed out trying to launch Shakib Al Hasan over long-on. However, Yadav had done the job and had set up the platform once again for the powerful MI middle-order. At that stage, the score read 86/2. But from the time Yadav fell, MI just couldn’t get going. They crumbled to 126/7 in the 18th over, and it looked like they were in danger of getting bowled out for under 140.
Krunal Pandya struck a few meaty blows to help MI cross that 150-mark. Pat Cummins picked up a couple of wickets in the middle before Andre Russell came in and picked up a five-wicket haul in just two overs.
At the halfway mark, MI looked 15-20 runs short. And the way KKR started, it looked like the two-time champions might finally get one across MI. Rana continued his form from the first game while Shubman Gill looked in solid touch as well. The duo added 72 for the opening wicket before Chahar had Gill caught at long-off. Rana kept the scoreboard ticking but kept losing partners at the other end.
In each of his four overs, Chahar took a wicket. After Gill, he had Rahul Tripathi caught behind a ball that turned sharply before Eoin Morgan was caught in the deep trying to launch the leg-spinner in the stands.
The turning point came in the 15th over when Rana charged at Chahar, who wisely shortened his length and bowled it outside off to have the left-hander stumped. Rana was out for 57, and even at that stage, it didn’t look like a big moment. However, Shakib holed out trying to hit Krunal Pandya for a six in the very next over before Dinesh Karthik, and Andre Russell struggled to even get the ball off the square.
Russell was even dropped twice, but he couldn’t make it count. Krunal bowled two overs in the last five (16th and 18th). He conceded a mere four runs in the two overs combined. Rohit Sharma had a slip and a silly point for the most part of those overs.
With 19 needed off the last two overs, Jasprit Bumrah conceded just four to give Trent Boult 15 runs to defend in the last over. Russell and Karthik got a single each on the first two deliveries of the over before Boult had Russell caught and bowled and knocking over Cummins. KKR eventually lost by ten runs and scored a mere 20 runs in the last five overs. Barring the free-hit off Bumrah, which went for a four, KKR did not hit a single boundary apart from that in the last six overs.
It was a massive escape for MI, and they would believe they got out of jail. It was a terrific comeback, but KKR would certainly look at a massive opportunity that has gone to dust. And it was MI’s 22nd win over KKR, who have won just six encounters against the five-time champions.
Brief Scores
Mumbai Indians 153 (Yadav 56, Rohit 43, Russell 5/15, Cummins 2/24) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 142/7 (Rana 57, Gill 33, Chahar 4/27, Trent Boult 2/27) by 10 runs
