IPL 2021, Match 34: MI vs KKR, Stats Review: Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik rewrite record books in Kolkata Knight Riders' comprehensive triumph

Another day and another comprehensive win for Kolkata Knight Riders! The two-time champions have certainly found their mojo in the UAE leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. Mumbai Indians were the latest to go down against the Eoin Morgan-led side. The five-time IPL winners got completely outplayed as the KKR walked away with a comfortable seven-wicket triumph.

As far as the proceedings of the game are concerned, the coin landed in Kolkata’s favour, and Eoin Morgan elected to bowl at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi. The decision, however, didn’t seem fruitful at first as MI got off to a stellar start. Skipper Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock played some delightful shots and added 78 runs for the first wicket.

While the middle order was expected to carry on the momentum, KKR bowlers bounced back by taking a flurry of wickets. As a result, MI got restricted to 155/6 in their allotted 20 overs. With Prasidh Krishna and Lockie Ferguson doing well on the track, MI pacers were expected to deliver.

However, KKR openers Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer dented their plans. The duo attacked from the outset and scored runs all over the park. Although Gill got out in the third over, Iyer joined forces with Rahul Tripathi and the two uncapped Indian batters made a mockery of Mumbai bowlers. Both of them slammed half-centuries as KKR crossed the line in 15.1 overs.

Meanwhile, here are the important stats and numbers from the MI vs KKR clash in IPL 2021:

2019 – KKR defeated MI for the first time since April 2019.

115 – Dinesh Karthik now has most catches by a wicketkeeper in IPL history (115).

1000 – Rohit Sharma became the first batsman to complete 1000 runs against an IPL team. He currently has 1015 runs against KKR.

13 – Shubman Gill completes 50 matches for KKR in IPL. He becomes the 13th player to get the milestone.

32 – This was the 32nd instance of Sunil Narine conceding 20 or fewer runs in his quota of four overs in IPL, joint-most for any player alongside Ravichandran Ashwin.

7 – Sunil Narine dismissed Rohit Sharma for the seventh time in IPL. No one has dismissed the MI skipper more often in IPL.

1 – Venkatesh Iyer slammed his maiden half-century in IPL. Overall, he scored 53 off 30 balls.

7 – Rahul Tripathi advanced to his seventh half-century in the Indian Premier League.

4 – Krunal Pandya has now gone wicketless in his last four IPL matches.