Mumbai Indians finished atop the IPL 2019 points table with a crushing nine-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in its final league fixture.
A six from Suryakumar Yadav gets the job done for Mumbai Indians and helps it top the IPL 2019 points table at the end of the league stage. It wins the match against Kolkata Knight Riders by 9 wickets.
At the end of the 15th over, Mumbai Indians is 121 for one, needs a further 13 runs from 30 balls. Rohit Sharma has reached his second fifty of the season.
Mumbai Indians moves to 96 for one after 13 overs and is coasting. It needs a further 38 runs from 42 balls. Rohit Sharma is batting on 44 and has a great chance to make his second half-century of the season.
Twelve runs come off the 11th over, Mumbai Indians moves to 88 for one, needs a further 46 runs from 42 balls.
At the halfway mark, Mumbai Indians is 76 for one, needs a further 58 runs from 60 balls. Rohit Sharma, who has managed only one fifty-plus score this season, is in sublime touch and piling on the misery on Andre Russell, who is struggling to hit the right length and is being punished when he errs either full or short.
At the end of the eighth over, Mumbai Indians is 63 for one. With two right-handers in the middle, Sunil Narine doesn't seem to threaten as much when Quinton de Kock faced him. Mumbai Indians needs a further 71 runs from 72 balls.
An eventful first over from Prasidh Krishna: he removed Quinton de Kock with the first ball before conceding nine runs off the next five deliveries with Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav hitting a four each. Mumbai Indians is 55 for one after seven overs. It needs a further 79 runs from 78 balls.
WICKET! Prasidh Krishna strikes with his first ball! A well-directed bouncer to Quinton de Kock's back shoulder and the South African wicketkeeper-batsman tries to pull and gets a top edge. Dinesh Karthik runs 30-35 yards back to take a stunning catch! Is there a way back for Knight Riders? Suryakumar Yadav joins captain Rohit Sharma.
Sunil Narine extracts sharp turn and bounce in his first over, troubling Quinton de Kock, who tried to improvise by playing the reverse sweep twice but didn't connect cleanly both times. Mumbai Indians is 46 for no loss at the end of the powerplay.
Mumbai Indians is 45 for no loss after five overs. Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock are enjoying their time in the middle with the required run-rate less than six per over.
At the end of the fourth over, Mumbai Indians is 35 for no loss. Andre Russell's first over costs 21 runs, with Quinton de Kock hitting a couple of sixes and a four after Rohit Sharma delicately guided the first ball of the over for a four behind square on the offside.
At the end of the second over, Mumbai Indians is 13 for no loss. Just four runs came off the second over, with Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma content with collecting the runs on offer. The home team needs a further 121 runs from 108 balls.
WICKET! Uthappa's struggle comes to an end. He goes for the big one but toe ends Bumrah's slower ball into the hands of Rohit Sharma. Bumrah adds another wicket of the last ball with Rinku Singh Singh skying one to Hardik at long-on. KKR finishes with 133/7 in 20 overs
KKR 130/5 after 19 overs: Excellent return to the Xi for McClenaghan, who bowls out his four overs for just 19 runs. Uthappa is still motoring along at 39 off 44 deliveries. He has played 23 dots...
WICKET! Malinga has his third Knight! Rana goes for the second maximum of the over but he mistimes one to long-off. KKR 120/5 after 17.2 overs
KKR 114/4 after 17 overs: Uthappa ends the over with a six over straight down the ground. That's his third six of the night and he is yet to score run-a-ball. He is on 36 from 37 balls.
Uthappa and Rana get going here. Three sixes, one from Uthappa and two from Rana, takes KKR to 99 at the end of 15 overs. Hardik has his bowling figures after the 16-run over.
KKR's season hinges on the blades of Uthappa and Nitish Rana, who joins the senior batsman out in the middle.
Andre Russell is finally in... and OUT! Could you believe that? An anti-climatic end to his innings and possibly his season? He tries to leave one outside the off-stump but the ball kisses his glove and goes behind for a catch. KKR 73/4 after 13 overs
WICKET! The pressure creeps up on skipper DK. He tries to chip it over mid-wicket but Krunal picks it out of thin air for a good catch to dismiss him. KKR 72/3 after 12.4 overs
35 dots so far from 72 balls. Just as I type that, Uthappa smacks Malinga over long-on for a six!
Krunal Pandya, who opened the bowling with McClenaghan, bowls out his four overs for just 14 runs. Uthappa has scored just nine off his 21 balls faced...
MAIDEN OVER ALERT! McClenaghan bowls a maiden over to Uthappa. Few plays and misses from the KKR batsman as McClenaghan changes up his pace well. Somewhere in the dugout, Andre Rusell would be getting frustrated with all these dot balls. KKR 61/2 after 11 overs
WICKET! It's that man again, Hardik Pandya! Lynn goes for a big swing and ends up top-edging a catch to Quinton de Kock, who takes an excellent catch running behind. Dinesh Karthik walks in at no. 4. KKR 56/2 in 8.2 overs
Uthappa is having a sub-standard season compared to his last seven seasons in the IPL. Just 243 runs in 12 matches. His only score of 50-plus came in KKR's second game of the season against Kings XI. He has often been found guilty of not scoring at a good run rate.
WICKET! Hardik Pandya, the man with the golden arm, strikes off the first ball. He traps Gill in front with a straight one. Gill departs for 9. Robin (Robbie) Uthappa is the new man in.
KKR 49/0 after 6 overs: Lynn breathing fire at the moment, gives KKR a flying start at the end of the powerplay overs. This is how his last 14 balls read collecting 35 runs: 6, 4, 0, 6, 0, 2, 4, 1, 0, 6, 0, 6, 0, 0
KKR 37/0 after 5 overs: Lynn gets going here by getting hold of the bowling of Malinga and Bumrah. He moves to 26 off 16 balls. Gill holding his end well but no boundaries from him yet.
KKR 15/0 after 3 overs: No real width on offer from McClenaghan and Krunal Pandya in the opening three overs. Lynn manages to make a good connection off the final ball of the third over with a hug six over mid-wicket for the first boundary of the evening.
Shubman Gill and Chris Lynn stride out to the middle. Both batsmen have struck form in the last couple of fixtures. McClenaghan with the ball in hand for MI.
Another all-rounder in the opposition dug-out who has been setting the stage on fire is Hardik Pandya. Runs: 380, Strike-rate: 199, Sixes: 29 Here's a little glimpse of what he is capable of with his cleans striking down the ground. He scored the fastest fifty of the season while chasing 232 against KKR.
Andre Russell will undoubtedly be the key wicket this evening. He has been an one-man wrecking ball for KKR this season with the bat. Runs: 510, Strike-rate: 206, Sixes: 52
It would be pretty harsh on his efforts if KKR fails to make the playoffs, but its a team game after all. It has been let down by its bowling this season where it has picked up just 55 wickets in 13 league matches.
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Teams
Mumbai Indians: 1 Rohit Sharma (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Suryakumar Yadav, 4 Ishan Kishan, 5 Hardik Pandya, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Krunal Pandya, 8 Rahul Chahar, 9 Jasprit Bumrah, 10 Lasith Malinga, 11 Mitchell McClenaghan
Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Chris Lynn, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Robbie Uthappa, 4 Dinesh Karthik, 5 Andre Russell, 6 Nitish Rana, 7 Rinku Singh, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Prasidh Krishna, 10 Harry Gurney, 11 Sandeep Warrier
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KKR change - Prasidh Krishna replaces leggie Piyush Chawla
MI changes - Mitchell McClenaghan and Ishan Kishan come in for Sran and Ewin Lewis
TOSS: Mumbai Indians' Rohit Sharma wins the toss, and elects to bowl first.
Over in Mohali, Kings XI Punjab ends its campaign with a win over table-topper Chennai Super Kings to finish the season seventh. The win was enabled thanks to KL Rahul's blazing start; scoring a 19-ball fifty .
KKR has won two on the bounce after its six consecutive losses to keep itself alive in the tournament. SRH could have sealed its playoff berth last night but blew its opportunity after failing to defend 179 against RCB.
KKR's record at the Wankhede will be found wanting too. From eight visits to MI's home ground, KKR has won just once (2012).
The final playoff place is in the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders. A win would just do it for them. The task, however, is certainly not an easy one. Among all the oppositions, KKR has the worst IPL record against Mumbai Indians. Played: 24, W: 6, L: 18.
The live streaming of the match is on Hotstar.
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