Report: M37 - MI vs KKR
Match Recap
The Mumbai Indians continue to remain relevant in VIVO IPL 2018 after they defeated they Kolkata Knight Riders by 13 runs at Wankhede Stadium on Sunday evening. After scoring 181-4 batting first, the defending champions restricted KKR to 168-6. The win was MI’s fourth in ten matches this season, while KKR, with this loss, now have five wins and as many losses.
The Mumbai Indians, put in to bat, were provided a rollicking start by their opening pair. Suryakumar Yadav and Ewin Lewis added 56 in the first six overs and extended their partnership to 91 before the latter’s miscue landed in the hands of short thirdman in the tenth over. Yadav, who had battled the trying conditions, batted on until the fifteenth over before he became Andre Russell’s second victim. The MI middle order struggled to come to terms with the heat and the surface conditions; Rohit Sharma fell victim to his nemesis Sunil Narine, as did Krunal Pandya. It was left to the younger of the Pandya brothers to provide the end overs flourish; Hardik, hit a six down the ground, but was also lucky to collect a few boundaries through outside edges.
MI were 95-1 at the halfway stage and could only add a further 86 in the back half (49 of them in the last five overs).
KKR, who surprisingly changed their opening pair, lost both openers – Chris Lynn and Shubman Gill – in 3.1 overs. Robin Uthappa and Nitish Rana, batting at three and four respectively, added 84 runs in 9.2 overs, with the former dominating the partnership. KKR’s run-chase was derailed when both batsmen were dismissed in the space of six balls. From 112-2in 12.2 overs – just before Uthappa’s dismissal, KKR could only add 56 runs in the remaining 7.4 overs. The visitors needed 43 off the last three overs, but could only add 29 runs to their total.
Standout batting performance
Mumbai Indians’ Suryakumar Yadav unleashed his entire repertoire of orthodox cricket strokes in his innings of 59. The 27-year old cut, drove, pulled and worked balls on his pads in his 39-ball knock. He punished width and collected three boundaries through the point region, drove an equal number through cover and top-edgeda pull off Mitchell Johnson that sailed over the square-leg boundary. The shot of his innings was when he stepped out to a Kuldeep Yadav delivery, and absolutely smashed it – high and deep – into the Sachin Tendulkar stand at midwicket. Yadav was dismissed in the fifteenth over when he played a tired shot – reaching the ball without getting closer, only managing an outside edge to the wicket-keeper.
Evin Lewiswas impressive in his 28-ball outing. The Trinidadian struck five boundaries and two sixes in his 43. He collected boundaries off consecutive deliveries off his fellow TrinidadianNarine in the fourth over, and then collected 6, 4, 4 off three consecutive deliveries off Piyush Chawla at the start of the sixth over.
KKR’s Robin Uthappa has hit the ball sweetly right through the season, but it was only in this match that he carried on to convert his score to a half-century. The 32-year old, dropped by Mayank Markande on 4, hit three sixes – all off spinners; the hit straight down the ground was off Krunal Pandya, and then there were two hits off consecutive deliveries off the leg-spinner Markande – one over long-off and one over midwicket. In the twelfth over, he collectedfour consecutive boundaries off Ben Cutting. In the following over, Uthappa attempted to hit the leg-spinner into the sightscreen yet again, but the ball turned just that bit, took the outer half of his bat and landed down the throat of long-off.
Notable Support Act – Batting
Nitish Rana, back in the KKR XI having recovered from the back spasms that forced him to miss the previous match,made 31 from 27 balls; the left-hander hit three fours and a six before he miscued an attempted pull and found the man at square-leg.
Dinesh Karthik remained unbeaten on 36, made from 26 balls. The KKR skipper, who walked out to bat at number five, began with a series of singles. Just when the required run rate was attaining demanding proportions, he opened up and collected a series of boundaries; in the seventeenth he cut away Bumrah to the point boundary, in the following over he dealt a similar treatment to Hardik Pandya, in the nineteenth he deposited a Bumrah full toss into the stands over midwicket and ended the over with a couple of boundaries. KKR needed 23 off the final over, but Karthik – who had strike for the last four balls – could only manage five runs.
Standout bowling performance
Hardik Pandya had yet another good game with the ball for MI. He bowled two good overs in the powerplay; he dismissed the opener Shubman Gill first ball and should have also had the wicket of Uthappa had the catch been held. He then dismissed Rana in his third over – fourteenth of the innings, and ended his evening with a quiet over – conceding 6 runs in the eighteenth. Hardik’s figures were 4-0-19-2; his spell contained 13 dot deliveries.
Andre Russell hasn’t bowled too many overs for KKR this season. Even on Sunday evening, he only bowled a couple. But those were two excellent overs. Handed the ball in the tenth over, he broke an opening partnership which had already caused sufficient damage; he outsmarted Evin Lewis with a slower delivery and had the left-hander caught at short thirdman. In his second over – the fifteenth of the innings, he had a well-set Yadav reaching out to a wide delivery and feathering one to the wicket-keeper. Russell’s evening with the ball was done; his figures read 2-0-12-2.
Stat of the Match
The MI bowlers bowled a total of 53 dot balls; in comparison, the KKR bowlers only bowled 42 dot deliveries.
Robin Uthappa, when on 17, reached the 4000 IPL runs milestone.e
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indians 181-4 (Suryakumar Yadav 59, Evin Lewis 43, Hardik Pandya 35*, Andre Russell 2-12, Sunil Narine 2-35) beat
Kolkata Knight Riders 168-6 (Robin Uthappa 54, Nitish Rana 31, Dinesh Karthik 36*, Hardik Pandya 2-19) by 13 runs.
Man of the Match:
Hardik Pandya, for his all-round performance (35* & 2-19)