Mumbai: Rohit Sharma struck an unbeaten 55 to lead Mumbai Indians to an easy 9-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders, which gave them the pole position in the IPL table and also ensured a lucky fourth place finish for Sunrisers Hyderabad, here Sunday.. Mumbai Indians will go into the play-offs topping the points table thanks to a NRR of 0.421. It was all too easy for them as KKR stumbled to a woefully under par 133 for seven.
Quinton de Kock went in all guns blazing, Rohit Sharma eased to an unbeaten fifty, and Suryakumar Yadav played a perfect supporting role as Mumbai strolled to a nine-wicket win. This result means that Mumbai will meet defending champions Chennai Super Kings in the play-offs, while Sunrisers Hyderabad have also secured a play-off berth – the first team do so with only 12 points. Earlier, Andre Russell failed to deliver when it mattered the most as Kolkata Knight Riders scored a sub-par 133 for 7 in their do-or die encounrter.
KKR’s top run-scorer of this IPL, Russell (510 from 13 innings) was dismissed for a first ball duck as the visiting side frittered away a good start to post a modest total after being sent into bat. Openers Chris Lynn (41 off 29 balls) and Shubman Gill (9 off 16 balls) put up 49 runs together in 6.1 overs but KKR suffered a middle-order collapse as Mumbai bowlers made a splendid comeback. It was left to Robin Uthappa (40 off 47 balls) and Nitish Rana (26 off 13 balls) to stitch a 47-run stand for the fifth wicket to take KKR past the 120-run mark.
Lasith Malinga (3-35), Hardik Pandya (2-20) and Jasprit Bumrah (2-31) were the main wicket-takers for the home side. Lynn and Gill started slowly before they started playing their big shots. Lynn hammered veteran Malinga for a four and a six in the fourth over as KKR fetched 13 runs of it. There was no stopping Lynn as he struck two towering sixes off leg-spinner Rahul Chahar in the sixth over as KKR finished the Powerplay at 49-0. However, Hardik brought the home side back into the match by removing both the openers in quick succession. While he trapped Gill in front of the wicket in the seventh over, he sent back a dangerous Lynn in the ninth over, caught by Quinton De Kock, as Kolkata slumped to 56-2.
