IPL 2018: Match 41, KKR vs MI, Review - Visitors topple hapless KKR to climb to the fourth position

Mumbai Indians (MI) have piled on the agony on the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by continuing their winning streak against them this season. It was a completely comprehensive performance by the defending champions as they annihilated the home side by 102 runs. It was Ishan Kishan who changed the complexion of the game completely just when everything was going according to the plan for KKR. His blitzkrieg of 62 runs off just 21 deliveries was absolutely special and he easily took the game away from them.

Dinesh Karthik won the toss and it was a no-brainer for him to field first considering the dew factor as they made a couple of changes. Shubman Gill got injured unfortunately as Rinku Singh replaced him and Tom Curran came in for Mitchell Johnson. Mumbai were confident and they trusted the same set of players which defeated them in the earlier face-off.

Calm before the storm

The visitors began confidently with their openers Evin Lewis and Suryakumar Yadav once again playing well to the bowlers upfront. The latter was more inventive as he played his shots despite losing his partner in the final over of the powerplay in a rather bizarre way. Rohit Sharma promoted himself at number 3 at his favourite venue as Surya batted decently at the other end. But his wicket worried the Mumbai camp as Ishan Kishan who was untested in the last couple of matches came out to bat.

Well, what followed was an absolute carnage! He took the attack brutally to the wrist spinners of the KKR. The period of 5 overs was the best for the Men in Blue in the tournament. The left-hander got off the mark with a huge six over long-on by coming down the track to Kuldeep Yadav. A few fours followed for a couple of overs but then came the dreadful over the chinaman bowler, the 14th of the innings, as four consecutive sixes were smacked by the youngster.

He put on the exhibition of power hitting and excellent footwork in that over. Yadav kept on bravely tossing up the ball but didn’t vary his speeds at all and Ishan took full of him. While the first six went over the deep backward square leg, the second was powerfully mowed over deep mid-wicket. The third maximum was the best which he hit by dancing down the track and bludgeoned it over long-on to bring up a half-century off just 17 balls. The final six of the over came over the cow corner which was hit by whipping the wrists.

The job was done by him and he was finally sent back by Sunil Narine in the very next over. Though the bowlers tried to pull it back in the death overs, the damage was done earlier. Moreover, the decision of the skipper to give Piyush Chawla the ball in the final over left everyone perplexed as Mumbai plundered 22 runs to finish strongly on 210 runs after 20 overs.

Reckless chase

KKR needed someone to play the innings which Ishan Kishan played for Mumbai. They had a lot of players to do that job but no one could do it. While the credit should go to the bowlers of the visiting side as well, most wickets were thrown by playing reckless shots by the batsmen. Narine was the first one to start the proceedings who lofted the short ball high in the air which rested in the hands of Krunal Pandya. Chris Lynn failed to make an impact again and was caught in the mix-up with his partner Robin Uthappa.

The writing was on the wall it seemed after the first couple of wickets itself but the shots of Uthappa raised few hopes of the fans only for them to get disappointed again. He decided to take on the leg-spin of Mayank Markande but mistimed the slog sweep as the hapless hosts were only left with Andre Russell to do the job. But the plan of MI was simple and they didn’t give him any balls to hit as he could simply score 2 runs to leave his team reeling at 54/4.

The slide continued even further as the skipper Karthik was also run-out. Nitish Rana was undone by a bouncer off the very next delivery by Pandya as none of the batsmen tried to graft and play 20 overs thinking of the net run-rate. It was an absolutely poor show by the home side with the bowlers feasting on nicely by picking wickets at regular intervals. The tail-enders were never going to win it for the Men in Purple and Gold but they at least tried to play out the overs. Though the bowlers were too good for them.

Eventually, they were bundled out for 108 runs in the 19th over as Mumbai sealed a massive victory over their favourite opponents by 102 runs. They also climbed to the fourth position thanks to their superior net run-rate and now they have a realistic chance to qualify for the playoffs even with 14 points. KKR had themselves to blame in this game and now will have to win all their remaining matches because of their poor NRR.

Brief Scores

Mumbai Indians 210/6 after 20 overs (I Kishan 62, S Yadav 36; P Chawla 3/48)

Kolkata Knight Riders 108 after 18.1 overs (C Lynn 21; H Pandya 2/16, K Pandya 2/12)

Result: Mumbai Indians won by 102 runs

Man of the Match: Ishan Kishan