IPL 2018,MI v KKR: Hardik show

Mumbai: Mumbai Indians edged out Kolkata Knight Riders by 13 runs here on Sunday to keep their play-off hopes alive in IPL-11. Hardik Pandya’s all-round performance, especially with the ball, was the cornerstone of Mumbai’s critical win.

In a nutshell, bowling won Mumbai the match. Hardik’s spell of 2/19 in four overs coupled with Mayank Markande’s 1/25 allowed the home side to defend the not-so-formidable 181. The former also smashed 35 crucial runs in the final overs.

Kolkata suffered a blow when Chris Lynn departed early after hitting two consecutive boundaries off Mitchell McClenaghan. The Kiwi bowler had the final laugh as Lynn tucked the ball straight to Jasprit Bumrah at short fine-leg. Young gun Shubman Gill was promoted to the opening spot in place of Sunil Narine but the Under-19 World Cup hero’s innings ended prematurely at 11. “He (Narine) wasn’t feeling well,” said KKR captain Dinesh Karthik after the match.

Robin Uthappa was lucky to see Markande drop a sitter at mid-on when he was on four. The day got worse for the leg-spinner when Uthappa smacked two sixes off his first over. He went on to score a half-century but fortune favoured the youngster. After a decent partnership with Nitish Rana (31), Uthappa launched Markande to the long-off fielder in the 13th over. Rana followed Uthappa to the pavilion in the next over.

One knows that it is never too late for Karthik to turn the game around. But it wasn’t his day. Karthik and the devastating Andre Russell couldn’t finish the job as the West Indian fell cheaply.

Karthik credited Jasprit Bumrah for his efforts in the 19th over. “I thought I could take on Bumrah. But we could get only 14. Bumrah, who extracted good bounce, bowled well,” he said.

Earlier, Suryakumar Yadav, Mumbai’s batsman of the season, and Evin Lewis took the score to 56 after the six powerplay overs. After the solid foundation, Hardik provided a final flourish by hitting 35 off 20 balls.

SCORECARD
Mumbai Indians: S. Yadav c Karthik b Russell 59, E. Lewis c Lynn b Russell 43, R. Sharma c sub b Narine 11, H. Pandya (not out) 35, K. Pandya c Shubman Gill b Narine 14, J. Duminy (not out) 13. Extras (lb1, w5) 6. Total: (for 4 wkts, in 20 overs) 181.
FoW: 1-91, 2-106, 3-127, 4-151.
Bowling: Rana 2-0-17-0 (1w), Prasidh 4-0-39-0 (1w), Johnson 3-0-25-0 (2w), Narine 4-0-35-2, Chawla 3-0-35-0, Kuldeep 2-0-17-0, Russell 2-0-12-2 (1w)

Kolkata Knight Riders: C. Lynn c Bumrah b McClenaghan 17, Shubman Gill c K. Pandya b H. Pandya 7, R. Uthappa c Cutting b Markande 54, N. Rana c Bumrah b H. Pandya 31, D. Karthik (not out) 36, A. Russell c K. Pandya b Bumrah 9, S. Narine c Sharma b K. Pandya 5, P. Chawla (not out) 0. Extras: (b4, lb4, w1) 9. Total: (for 6 wkts, in 20 overs) 168.
FoW: 1-28, 2-28, 3-112, 4-115, 5-131, 6-163.
Bowling: McClenaghan 4-0-30-1, Bumrah 4-0-34-1, Hardik 4-0-19-2 (1w), Krunal 3-0-29-1, Markande 3-0-25-1, Cutting 2-0-23-0.