MI vs KKR: Match 51 of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) saw the hosts Mumbai Indians fail to extend their unbeaten streak at home against the Kolkata Knight Riders after a 24-run defeat at the Wankhede on May 3. The defeat meant that Mumbai’s playoffs are all but over now.
KKR Manage To Post 169
Batting first, Kolkata Knight Riders had a disappointing start as their opener Phil Salt was dismissed for just 5 runs by Nuwan Thushara’s brilliant opening over. Subsequently, there was a collapse in the top order as MI bowlers intensified the pressure, leading to the dismissal of the top 5 batters within 7 overs.
Despite the early loss of Sunil Narine at 8 runs, both skipper Shreyas Iyer and Rinku Singh fell for single-digit scores, leaving KKR struggling at 57/5 after 6.1 overs.
However, impact substitute Manish Pandey and Venkatesh Iyer formed a crucial 83-run partnership in the middle, ensuring that KKR didn’t surrender easily as they fought to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Venkatesh Iyer’s aggressive innings was complemented by Manish Pandey’s contribution of 42 runs until the 16.2 overs mark. Ultimately, it was Iyer who led the scoring with 70 runs, guiding Kolkata Knight Riders to a competitive total of 169 runs in their allotted 20 overs.
Jasprit Bumrah was instrumental in restricting KKR’s run-scoring in the latter overs, finishing with impressive figures of 3/18, which also marked his 50th wicket at the Wankhede Stadium in the IPL.
SKY’s 56 Goes In Vain
In reply, the Mumbai batters also had a similar start to their innings to KKR. With the top 3 batters getting dismissed at a collective total of just 35 runs, it was the K bowlers who piled on the pressure earlier on to defend their total.
With the score at 46/3 at within the powerplay, Nehal Wadhera and Tilak Varma tried to get back some sort of momentum into the chase but failed to do so as the duo was sent back to the pavilion soon after courtesy of a spin attack by Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy.
Skipper Hardik also failed to make a mark as he was dismissed by Andre Russell with the score at 72/6 at 11.2 overs. With the team relying on the last batting duo of Suryakumar Yadav and Tim David, SKY didn’t let his fans down as his swashbuckling innings of 56 took Mumbai Indians very close to a victory on the night.
However, destiny had other plans as Surya had to back on 56 runs courtesy of an Andre Russell delivery. With Mumbai needing another 50 off just 27 balls, Tim David’s 24-run cameo failed to get his side the win as Kolkata won at Wankhede after a long spell of 12 years. Their last win at the Wankhede came back in 2012.
Also Read: IPL 2024: Kolkata Knight Riders Fightback To Post 169 At Wankhede
