IPL 2018,MI v KKR: Mumbai Indians keep their season alive, beat KKR by 13 runs

Mumbai: Fantastic bowling by Mumbai Indians bowlers helped home side register run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders and keep their season alive

Chasing 182 runs to win, KKR got off to fantastic start as openers Chris Lynn and Shubman Gill, who was sent in place of Sunil Narine to open the innings went after MI bowlers. Lynn was looking dangerous as he started to deal in boundaries hitting bowlers all over the park.

Mitchell McClenaghan dismissed the Australian opener for 17 runs bringing and end to 28 run opening stand. Shubman Gill also didn’t last long as he was dismissed in the evry next over by Hardik Pandya.

Robin Uthappa and Nitish Rana then formed a crucial partnership as both the batsman looked to bring KKR innings on track. Uthappa received lifeline when on 4 runs as Mayank Markande dropped a sitter at mid-on off Hardik Pandya’s bowling. 

Uthappa and Rana then went onto put together a partnership of 84 runs to put KKR chase in control. Markande finally had his redemption when he dismissed the KKR vice captain for 54 runs. Nitish Rana too did not last for long as he fell to Hardik Pandya for 31 runs.

With skipper Dinesh karthik and Andre Russell at crease, KKR still looked very much in the match. Once Russell was dismissed it was mountain to climb for the visiting side as Mumbai closed out the match with ease.

KKR 139-5 after 17 overs:

WICKET! Jasprit Bumrah does the trick for Mumbai Indians. Andre Russell innings comes to an end for just 9 runs. Krunal Pandya runs behind to take a stunning diving catch to dismiss the big hitting West Indian.

Hardik Pandya is now the holder of purple cap with 14 wickets

WICKET! Nitish Rana is gone, KKR lose two set batsmen in two consecutive overs. Hardik Pandya bowling a short ball to the batsman. Rana trying to clear the fence with a pull shot only to top edge the ball into hands of Jasprit Bumrah.

WICKET! Mayank Markande gets redemption. Robin Uthappa's innings comes to an end on 54. The KKR batsman tries to clear boundary line, only to slice the ball straight into the hands of Cutting at long off.

KKR 91-2 after 10 overs:

There was no furthur damage for visiting KKR side as Uthappa and Rana took the attack to opposition bowlers and relive some pressure in the run chase.

DROPPED! Robin Uthappa gets lifeline on 4 runs. Short ball from Hardik Pandya as Uthappa goes for pull. The right hander mistimes the shot and hits it to Markande who drops a sitter at mid on.

KKR 44-2 after 5 overs:

After a strong start by KKR openers Mumbai Indians have pulled things back. Chris Lynn who looked dangerous was the first wicket to fall, before young Shubman Gill played rash shot to give MI an easy wicket. Nitish Rana and experience Robin Uthappa will now have to steady KKR innings.

WICKET! Hardik Pandya removes Shubman Gill, caught by Krunal Pandya at mid-off. The Pandya brothers in action and KKR have lose both openers . Hardik bowls slower off-cutter but  Gill mistimes the shot to give simple catch.

WICKET! McClenaghan  gets rid of dangerous looking Chris Lynn. The short ball from the Kiwi pacer ends up  Lynn pulling it straight into the hands of Bumrah at short fine.

Kolkata Knight Riders Innings

Mumbai Indians innings

Suryakumar Yadav once again starred with the bat for Mumbai Indians as the host reached 181-4 in 20 overs  against Kolkata Knight Riders in the 37^th match of Indian Premier League (IPL) at Wankhede stadium on Sunday.

After being asked to bat first, MI  got off to strong start thanks to openers Evin Lewis and Suryakumar Yadav as both the batsmen put on 91 run stand.  Lewis was dismissed by Andre Russel for 43 runs. Suryakumar Yadav also reached to his 50 and with skipper Rohit Sharma at crease , MI were in lookout for huge total.

KKR pulled things back with couple of wickets. Rohit Sharma was the second wicket to fall. Sunil Narine provided the breakthrough when he had MI skipper caught by sunstitute Rinku Singh. Suryakumar Yadav was the next batsman to go edging the ball to wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik for 59 runs.

Hardik Pandya cameo knock (35 runs of 20 balls) in the end helped Mumbai reach defending total,

MI 181-4 after 20 overs:

WICKET! Narine gets his second of the match.  Krunal Pandya, couldnt find the timing o the short ball and hits it straight into the hands of Shubman Gill.

MI 132-3 after 15 overs:

Mumbai Indians are all set for final flourish with Hardik and Krunal Pandya at the crease. Suryakumar Yadav scored his fourth half century of the season as he was dismissed by Russel for  56 runs caught by Dinesh Karthik  behind the stumps.

MI 95-1 after 10 overs:

WICKET! Andre Russel with the breakthrough for KKR. Evin Lewis going for big shot of slower ball, but finds an edge as the ball goes straight to Lynn at short third man

MI 42-0 after 5 overs:

MI openers Suryakumar Yadav and Ewin Lewis have played cautiously as Mumbai Indians begin their innings at steady pace.

Mumbai: They have done it once, but can they do it twice. Mumbai Indians have managed to keep their playoff hopes alive with resounding wins over Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab in their last two games. Their path to playoffs is hanging by thread with five more matches to play and five victories to gain.

Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders will face each other at Wankhede on Sunday, which will the first meeting between both the teams in the first of the two back to back games.

MI’s batting once again will be of utmost importance as their batsmen have failed to play long innings in crunch games. Evin Lewis's form haven’t been consistent, Ishan Kishan have failed to pack the punch. The Pandya brothers too, have blown hot and cold and Kieron Pollard is yet to make his bat do the talking.

While Suryakumar Yadav have been the only bright spot, skipper Rohit Sharma needs to come good with an important knock. The bowling attack led by young leg spinner Mayank Markande have done well in the last two games. The pacers will have to pull up their socks and avoid leaking runs in the final few overs. Hardik and Mitchell McClenaghan have to up their antique against the likes of Andre Russel , who could prove handy in the final over’s.

Meanwhile, KKR's batting doesn’t have such problem as their opening pair of Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn ave given good starts in previous matches. Vice –captain Robin Uthappa, who has been KKR’s mainstay for long time will have to step up and contribute with the bat.

Skipper Dinesh Karthik is in the form of his life; and young Shubman Gill has also shown that he can play well at the big stage. With such dangerous players at disposal the Knight Riders looks a very threatening side.

It will be home coming for Nitish Rana, who previously donned the MI jersey and was a consistent run getter for the side. The Delhi batsman who suffered a back spasm, missed KKR’s last game and a final call on his participation will be taken at the final moment.

In the bowling department, the spin trio of Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav and Sunil Narine can he handful for any batting lineup. In the pace department, with Mitchell Johnson proving to be expensive, Tom Curran might get look in today’s game

A win on the home turf for Rohit Sharma-led side will be nothing short of moral booster and gives them a chance to sneak in with a chance for play-off birth. Any slip up will ultimately end the dream of retaining the tile.