Kolkata Knight Riders have finally found the team balance they were looking for to surpass the Mumbai Indians 52 runs on Monday in Mavi Mumbai and keep their small IPL play-off hopes alive. Leader Mumbai Indians pacer Jasprit Bumrah took his first five-wicket haul in IPL history to limit KKR to 165 for nine after fine punches from Venkatesh Iyer (43 out of 24) and Nitish Rana (43 out of 24).
With the exception of a 43-ball 51 by Ishan Kishan, Mumbai batters struggled to give chase as their innings ended at 113 all-out in 17.3 overs.
KKR eventually teamed up Tim Southee (1/10) and Pat Cummins (3/22) and the move worked with the seasoned pacers sharing four wickets. Andre Russell also came in with a few wickets.
Another big plus was the return to form of Venkatesh Iyer, who had to be dropped from the league earlier due to his meager run after a sensational debut season in 2021. While MI was already out of the play-off race, KKR, which has five wins out of 12 games, can still sneak into the top four with two games to go.
In the chase, Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma (2) fell in the first over after a controversial DRS call after the field told him not to be out for a caught appeal.
Judging by TV replays, the UltraEdge peak came just before the ball went past the bat, but the call on the field was destroyed, leaving Rohit to shake his head in frustration.
Previously, KKR openers Venkatesh and Ajinkya Rahane (25 off 24 balls) added 60 runs in just 5.4 overs after being put into bat, but the Shreyas Iyer-led side failed to capitalize on that promising start.
Rana made his way to a 26-ball 43, with three limits and four sixes, but it was Bumrah (5/10), who took five wickets in two overs, to slow down KKR, which suffered a middle-order collapse .
In the 15th over, Bumrah removed Russell (9) and Rana, then took three wickets — Sheldon Jackson (5), Cummins (0) and Sunil Narine (0), in the 18th over, a girl, to bring MI back in the game.
Venkatesh smashed three boundaries and four sixes, but perished in the sixth over, handing a sitter to Daniel Sams at the time, with spinner Kumar Kartikeya Singh (2/32) taking his first wicket.
Venkatesh was brutal on spinner Murugan Ashwin (1/35), hitting him for his first maximum, a pull shot, then hitting a limit.
The southpaw then threw his second six over deep mid-wicket from Daniel Sams (1/26), while KKR ran to 26/0 after three overs. He then turned to Riley Meredith (0/35) and hammered him on the boundary and a six, a first, in the fifth over where KKR amassed 17 runs.
Mumbai bowlers allowed only 23 runs from overs 7-10.
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Kartikeya cleared Rahane, with a full pitch coming in when the opener was struck while attempting a reverse sweep. After Rahane’s firing, Rana upped the ante and launched Kartikeya, hitting him two straight sixes, one over long-on. He then ripped in Kieron Pollard, hammering two sixes and crossing a boundary in the 13th, giving the side 17 runs.
But then it was Bumrah, who wrought havoc with the ball and put MI firmly back in the game.
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