Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders don’t make for a compelling rivalry especially since MI usually haven’t ceased to remind who the boss is. But there’s something about the way the Knights are playing in the UAE this time.
With impressive wins here – first against Royal Challengers Bangalore and now over Mumbai Indians – the Kolkata Knight Riders sense a chance to do something special.
For the record, KKR, chasing 155/6, romped home by seven wickets, following Venkatesh Iyer’s 53 and Rahul Tripathi’s breezy, unbeaten 74. In Iyer, KKR has unravelled a gem. Playing with flair and energy, he has given KKR an electric opening option.
Earlier, MI galloped to 78 in 10 overs, with Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock imposing themselves on KKR as only they can. De Kock seemed unstoppable as he welcomed Andre Russell with consecutive fours.
However, KKR, courtesy the stranglehold by Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, not only checked the onslaught, they struck frequently to limit MI to less than 160. Prasidh Krishna, although a touch wayward, landed the decisive breakthroughs - that of the well-set Quinton de Kock and Suryakumar Yadav.
MI lost a cluster of wickets from thereon. KKR pulled things back between 10 and 15 overs, conceding only 26 and picking up two wickets.
Lockie Ferguson bowled an outstanding last over, dislodging the dangerous duo of Kieron Pollard and Krunal Pandya. Pollard flat-batted Krishna over mid-wicket, but even then, MI could collect only 49 runs from the last five overs and 75 in the final 10.
MI usually peak late, but their batting seems to have lost the rudder, with Hardik Pandya still not match fit and Ishan Kishan going off the boil.
Even Krunal Pandya had a lukewarm outing yesterday, going wicketless and not looking convincing enough with the bat.
Brief Scores
Mumbai Indians: 155-6 (Quinton de Kock 55, Rohit Sharma 33; Lockie Ferguson 2-27, Prasidh Krishna 2-43) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders: 159-3 (Rahul Tripathi 74 not out, Venkatesh Iyer 53; Jasprit Bumrah 3-43).
PointS tally
TEAM M W L PT
DC 9 7 2 14
CSK 8 6 2 12
RCB 8 5 3 10
KKR 9 4 5 8
RR 8 4 4 8
MI 9 4 5 8
PBKS 9 3 6 6
SRH 8 1 7 2
