Synopsis: Kolkata Knight Riders leave it late to beat MI by 4 wickets and keep play-offs hopes alive
Kolkata Knight Riders kept their chances of reaching the playoffs alive and they had their bowlers to thank for it. After they restricted Mumbai Indians to 147/8, a fourth-wicket partnership between Rovman Powell and Manish Pandey steadied the innings as they got home with more than an over to spare.
On a sultry evening with rain expected, KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane opted to chase on a ground where dew was likely to be a significant factor as the match progressed. Mumbai openers Rohit Sharma and Ryan Rickelton started slowly, managing only a single boundary in the first couple of overs.
With pressure building, Rickelton swung at Cameron Green in the third over, but the ball ballooned up and landed in Manish Pandey’s grasp. Naman Dhir lasted two balls, nicking behind to Angkrish Raghuvanshi, giving Green his second wicket. Rohit, meanwhile, slog-swept Saurabh Dubey for a six only to fall to the Vidarbha pacer for 15, leaving Mumbai reeling at 24/3 after four overs.
Sunil Narine of Kolkata Knight Riders celebrates the wicket of Hardik Pandya of Mumbai Indians during Match 65. (Photo by Surjeet Yadav / CREIMAS for IPL)
Suryakumar Yadav seemed to be the crisis man when he hit a straight drive for a four, followed by another to fine leg. He started the sixth over with a flicked six over fine leg but was cleaned up by Dubey as he under-edged a delivery onto his stumps. Mumbai ended the Powerplay at 46/4 as the pressure applied by the KKR bowlers paid off.
A spell of rain interrupted proceedings, providing the visitors much-needed respite and a chance to reset. But KKR’s spin twins had other ideas.
With Varun Chakaravarthy, looking in visible discomfort due to his injury, and Sunil Narine, KKR employed the middle-overs choke they have become synonymous with this season, yielding just 14 off overs 8-10 as MI trudged to 64/4 after 10 overs.
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The pressure almost accounted for another Mumbai wicket but Tilak Varma, batting at 12, got a reprieve when wicketkeeper Raghuvanshi curiously ran towards the bowler’s end and collided with Varun, leading to a dropped chance. Tilak, however, couldn’t make KKR pay as he holed out to Anukul Roy in the deep off Kartik Tyagi for 20. Captain Hardik Pandya was then bamboozled by an off-break from Narine that spun in sharply and rattled his stumps. But a late surge by Corbin Bosch, who scored 32 off 18 balls, helped Mumbai post 147/8.
KKR leave it late
Finn Allen threatened to repeat his heroics from the last match when he opened his account with two cracking boundaries, both through the cover-point area, off the first over by Deepak Chahar. But the MI pacer had the last laugh when he cleaned up the Kiwi power-hitter in the same over.
Rahane and Pandey started the rebuilding process with occasional boundaries, before Bosch accounted for the KKR captain when he nicked behind for 21 with the home team ending the Powerplay at 51/2. Green was the next man to depart as he tried to accelerate and was caught in the deep by Allah Ghazanfar off Bosch.
Rovman Powell came in at No. 4 and steadied the ship somewhat with a flicked six and a boundary even as Pandey continued to play the anchor role. The West Indies batter was almost sent back by Hardik Pandya for 14 but confusion between Chahar and Robin Minz in the deep gave him a second chance.
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Rinku Singh of Kolkata Knight Riders and Anukul Roy of Kolkata Knight Riders celebrates the after win the match during Match 65. (Photo by Surjeet Yadav / CREIMAS for IPL)
Thereafter, Pandey broke the shackles with back-to-back boundaries off Pandya, the first a drive past the bowler and the second a cut through the point region. He followed that with a deft touch to the backward point boundary to bring up Kolkata’s 100 runs in the 13th over.
With the three figures up, it gave Powell freedom to play a few strokes that fetched him a couple of boundaries and brought up the 50-run fourth-wicket partnership. Pandey’s stay was ended by Jasprit Bumrah for 45 before Powell also fell for 40. However, Rinku Singh stayed to drag KKR over the line.
Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 147/8 in 20 overs (Corbin Bosch 32; Cameron Green 2/23, Saurabh Dubey 2/34) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders 148/6 in 18.5 overs (Manish Pandey 45, Rovman Powell 40; Corbin Bosch 3/30) by four wickets
