[ KKR vs MI, IPL 2021, MATCH 5 LIVE SCORECARD ]
It has been a frenetic finish, and who better than the Mumbai Indians to turn a low-scoring affair into an absolute classic.
With Nitish Rana's fifty leading the chase, KKR were well and truly in the driver's seat. Even as his other bowlers received an early pounding, Rohit held back his ace leggie Rahul Chahar, which paid dividends in the end. Chahar's brilliant attacking spell forced the Knight Riders batsmen to go after him. Rana, Gill, Tripathi and captain Morgan all perished in their ambitious bid to get the better of Chahar, and Mumbai then made the most of the slight opening.
Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult tightened the noose at the death. They were complemented by Krunal Pandya, who conceded just three in the 18th over.
The domination continues for the Mumbai Indians as the head-to-head record now reads 22-6 in its favour.
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KKR 142/7 after 20 overs: Boult to Russell. OUT! Goodness me, what a turnaround this has been! And Boult follows up by cleaning Pat Cummins first ball! An inexplicable 30 minutes have put the contest beyond Knight Riders's reach.
Trent Boult is up for the final over. 15 needed off six.
KKR 138/5 after 19 overs: What an over from the master Jasprit Bumrah. Gives away just four runs and puts Karthik under the pump with two classic slower ones off the last two deliveries. Kolkata under pressure as it needs 15 off the final over!
Bumrah vs Karthik, Russell - 19 off 12.
KKR 134/5 after 18 overs: Brilliant over from Krunal under pressure. 22 needed off three and the left-armer gives away just three runs and nearly gets Russell once again. Russell mistimed the slog and sent it straight into the night-sky. Bumrah failed to latch on to the chance. The equation is now 19 runs off 12 balls. Pressure makes you do funny things!
KKR 131/5 after 17 overs: Bumrah had Russell tied down with a couple of searing deliveries. And right on cue, there's a no-ball from the Bumrah that provides Russell the leeway to swing freely. Russell connects and gets off the mark with a boundary through the leg-side.
Bumrah back into the attack.
KKR 123/5 after 16 overs: Krunal to Shakib. OUT! Shakib throws away his wicket and Mumbai smells a faint chance once again here! The players head for the timeout soon after and Rohit uses an attacking field against Russell from the get-go. Pollard marks himself with an helmet at silly point. Krunal then bowls a straighter one and Russell chips it straight back to him but the ball slips off his hands as he dives to his left. Is that the match right there?
Shakib Al Hasan c Yadav b KH Pandya 9 (9b 1x4)
KKR 122/4 after 15 overs: Chahar to Rana. OUT! Chahar gets his man eventually! Sensational spell of attacking spin-bowling as the leggie registers his best figures! Chahar got one to turn from the length and beat Rana and de Kock behind the stumps altogether. Rana could not resist to see off Chahar who has been at the top of his mark. He stepped down the crease but the wily youngster darted it quicly past him to de Kock who rams the stumps. Nitish Rana st †de Kock b Chahar 57 (47b 6x4 2x6)
KKR 113/3 after 14 overs: Rohit nearly gets a wicket first-ball! Quick and finds some turn off the middle-stump as Rana attempts to slice but under-cuts it past the keeper and onto the fence. Rohit gets the ball to stick and turn from the track but the batsmen roll on with singles.
Goodness me! Rohit Sharma is into the attack. Oh! And he has twisted his ankle before bowling the first ball. A bit of anti-climax for a probably 'deeply' thought-out move.
KKR 104/3 after 13 overs: Chahar to Morgan. OUT! Chahar gets the skipper and his third for the night! A slower, tossed-up delivery is deftly rolled in as Morgan aimed for the big slog towards the longer-fence on the leg-side. Morgan fails to get the distance on it and Marco Jansen buckets a simple catch at midwicket. KKR will now pin its hopes on Rana who got to 13th IPL half-century in fine fashion - his second on the trot. Eoin Morgan c Jansen b Chahar 7 (7b 1x4)
KKR 97/2 after 12 overs: An expensive over from Bumrah. Bumrah stays onto Rana's pads and he sends it down the third-man boundary. His skipper, however, adds a tinge of class as Bumrah's bouncer is sliced over the keeper for another four.
KKR 85/2 after 11 overs: Chahar to Tripathi. OUT! A ripper from Chahar sends back Tripathi! Flight and turn from middle-and-leg and Tripathi could not keep his blade away from that one! Chahar gets the edge and has put Mumbai slightly back in this one. Skipper Morgan comes in and Chahar nearly gets the main man with two probing deliveries. Rahul Tripathi c †de Kock b Chahar 5 (5b)
KKR 81/1 after 10 overs: Boult is brought back into the attack but Rana has no doubts over his approach. A loose shorter one is pulled with disdain through the mid-wicket region to the boundary.
KKR 73/1 after 9 overs: Chahar to Gill. OUT! A couple of telling blows, Chahar induces the false shot off Gill. Chahar darts it short and Gill pummels it over the midwicket fence. The leggie does not deter from bowling attacking lengths and gets Gill to hit against the turn. The ball is sliced up straight to Pollard at long-off. Chahar nearly gets Tripathi first ball as the loopy delivery is swept in the air over the vacant midwicket region. Shubman Gill c Pollard b Chahar 33 (24b 5x4 1x6)
KKR 62/0 after 8 overs: Rana continues the charge. This is some shoddy bowling from Pollard as the slower short-delivery does no harm to Rana who seems to be in imperious touch. The left-hander creams a six and a boundary through the on-side with authority.
Kieron Pollard into the attack. Well....
KKR 50/0 after 7 overs: Fifty up for the Knight Riders and they are well in control of the chase. Rana was the aggressor at the start, fending off the Boult threat while Gill sprang up soon after with a flurry of delectable boundaries.
KKR 45/0 after 6 overs: Gill sends Jansen for a ride! Jansen dishes in the shorter delivery twice off the same line and Gill aces the pull on both occasions. The youngster then blazes the off-drive with absolute precision past the mid-off fielder.
KKR 32/0 after 5 overs: Krunal hits the right length first-up and forces Gill and Rana to exchange strike with a couple of singles. Mumbai is desperate to find a breakthrough and Rohit's ploys does not seem to work at the moment.
Krunal Pandya into the attack.
KKR 28/0 after 4 overs: Boundaries coming at a constant rate for the Knights. Bumrah errs in line as he slides one down leg to Rana who flicks down the same line. Gill, who has been silent at one end, gets into the act with the perfect punch down the ground.
Jasprit Bumrah replaces Marco Jansen
KKR 19/0 after 3 overs: Rana is batting like a dream. He steps out to send Boult over covers for six! Talk about dealing with a fiery international paceman. Rana goes further with a quick hoick over midwicket as Boult continues to shuffle with his line and length early on.
KKR 8/0 after 2 overs: Jansen starts on a fine note. He keeps it simple by attacking Gill's stumps while fending it short and straight to Rana.
Marco Jansen into the attack.
KKR 4/0 after 1 over: Rana begins in fine fashion with a breezy drive through covers. Boult is quick to check his line and finds some late-swing to fuel his ploy to find the edge.
We are back for the chase! In walk the Mumbai Indians followed by KKR openers Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill. Trent Boult up with the new ball.
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This has been a bizarre finish for the Mumbai Indians as an upbeat KKR knocked down the famed batting-order without much fuss. A blazing fifty from Suryakumar Yadav with ample support from Rohit Sharma had set up the innings for MI on a tricky surface once again but the middle-order comprising - Kishan, the Pandyas and Pollard fell cheaply as the defending champion barely scraped past 150.
The chase wouldn't be easy for Morgan's men as Rohit Sharma and Co. have been belligerent when it comes to defending the small totals.
MI 152 all out after 20 overs: FIFER FOR DRE RUSS! A couple of boundaries from Krunal sent MI past 150 but the deceptive Dre has come up with the shorter stuff to remove Krunal, Bumrah and Boult within the space of next four deliveries. Russell finishes with his best T20 figures: 2-0-15-5.
Krunal Pandya c Prasidh Krishna b Russell 15 (9b 3x4), Jasprit Bumrah c Shakib Al Hasan b Russell 0 (1b), Rahul Chahar c Shubman Gill b Russell 8 (7b)
MI 142/7 after 19 overs: The boundaries have been hard to come by and Krunal manages to fend the shorter delivery from Prasidh over the keeper to the boundary. Can the senior Pandya send MI past 160 in a final flourish?
MI 132/7 after 18 overs: Russell to Pollard. OUT! Edged and gone! Dre Russ strikes with his second ball!
Russell comes from around the wicket and pushes it wide from Pollard's reach. Pollard reaches out and ends up edging it straight to Karthik behind the wickets.
OH! Russell has another! Jansen holes out second ball. A similar delivery to Pollard's dismissal and Jansen just lofts it over point with hardly any power on it. Mumbai is crumbling down pretty fast here.
Kieron Pollard c †Karthik b Russell 5 (8b 1x4), Marco Jansen c Cummins b Russell 0 (1b)
Andre Russell into the attack for the first time tonight.
MI 125/5 after 17 overs: Prasidh to Pandya. OUT! High into the night sky but not long enough. Hardik fails to time it altogether and holes out to the mid-off fielder. Prasidh hits the right length to beat Krunal's edge as well. Krunal and Pollard see off the over with a couple of singles. Hardik Pandya c Russell b Prasidh Krishna 15 (17b 2x4)
MI 119/4 after 16 overs: Cummins to Rohit. OUT! Rohit drags it back to the stumps. Rohit is distraught after biding his way through the tough period. Cummins hits the fourth stump line with a slower-cutter as Rohit attempts to cut but misses. Cummins continues with searing pace as the new man Pollard attempts to wade his way through with some weird defence. Rohit Sharma b Cummins 43 (32b 3x4 1x6)
MI 114/3 after 15 overs: Chakravarthy continues his fine line of attacking bowling but Rohit nudges him with the finest of late cuts past short-third man. The boundaries have not come as often as he would have liked, but this might be a start.
MI 106/3 after 14 overs:
And finally
Rohit breaks the shackles with that trademark pull! Sends Mumbai past 100 and have they just stepped on the pedal here? Krishna once again began well before tapering off with some loose deliveries. Pandya got into this groove with a stifling flick to the deep mid-wicket boundary and was followed by Rohit's massive shot into the stands.
MI 94/3 after 13 overs: Chakravarthy silences Hardik with some quick deliveries attacking the stumps. Is Mumbai feeling the heat slightly? Rohit has not cut loose yet and has played just 25 deliveries as we move into the 14th over!
Chakravarthy is back into the attack.
MI 91/3 after 12 overs: Cummins to Kishan. OUT! Kishan hooks and it flies straight to the fielder! Cummins tucks one onto the ribs with pace and Kishan falls for the trap. The hook looked high and handsome for a moment, yes for one moment before the ball dipped straight into Prasidh Krishna's hands at fine leg. Hardik Pandya has come in to join his skipper who has been a quiet observer at one end. Ishan Kishan c Prasidh Krishna b Cummins 1 (3b)
MI 88/2 after 11 overs: Shakib to Suryakumar. OUT! High but not long enough! Suryakumar has holed out to the long-on fielder. This has been a cracking spell from Shakib and he now has the main man's wicket to show! beside his name. Suryakumar Yadav c Shubman Gill b Shakib Al Hasan 56 (36b 7x4 2x6) SR: 155.55
MI 81/1 after 10 overs: Suryakumar sends Cummins to the roof! Brings up his fifty in trademark style! 99 METRES and over Chepauk's large stand! Cummins began the over with a ripper to beat Surya's edge but there's the response from him. Length ball and SKY just smashes it over deep square leg over to the top of the stadium. A 33-ball fifty and that has put Mumbai well in command here.
MI 70/1 after 9 overs: This has been an excellent spell from Shakib as he continues to find the good length consistently to attack the stumps. Rohit and Suryakumar continue to rotate strike briskly with the singles as they set the Mumbai innings for a strong finish. However, MI was in a similar situation against RCB before it began to crumble at the back-end.
MI 64/1 after 8 overs: The SURYAKUMAR show is on! Prasidh Krishna's pace is dealt with disdain as a delivery rushed onto the pads is scooped over cow corner for a cracking six- a lot of MSD shades in that helicopter-like shot! He follows it up with a silken drive through extra cover. KKR has no answer to this early onslaught. A hint of fortune follows Surya's way as Krishna induced the thick outside edge that runs down to the fence through third man. The deluge of boundaries has also brought up the 50-run stand between Rohit and Surya off 37 balls.
Lots of cropping from skipper Morgs as Prasidh Krishna replaces Cummins.
MI 47/1 after 7 overs: Rohit and Suryakumar are content with the singles at the moment. Shakib continues to dart the ball in from his wide-arm action, offering little room for the batsmen to break free.
MI 42/1 after 6 overs: Cummins' pace hits the turf hard but there's hardly any response from the track as the ball falls low onto the batsmen. An odd loose ball from Cummins is creamed through point by Suryakumar who has taken on the mantle to attack the bowlers from the onset. MI finishes the Powerplay at 42/1.
First sign of pace and there's Pat Cummins!
MI 37/1 after 5 overs: A fine over from Chakravarthy from the other end is spoilt with the odd loosener off the final ball. He had kept a tight line throughout the over before a juicy short-ball was gifted to Rohit who sweeps it past square leg.
Chakravarthy swaps ends as Harbhajan is taken off the attack.
MI 28/1 after 4 overs: Four overs of spin first-up in the Powerplay in a T20 game! Shakib has backed up Morgan's punt with an excellent over. Shakib keeps the stump-to-stump line as Surya and Rohit are forced to rotate strike with singles.
Shakib al Hasan replaces Chakravarthy.
MI 24/1 after 3 overs: Suryakumar Yadav arrives with a bang!
Harbhajan is unsettled with the exuberance of this man. Harbhajan fends a wide, loopy delivery and SKY fetches it from far out and sweeps behind square. He follows up with another slog through the long-on fence and completes the early bashing with a delightful drive through extra cover.
MI 10/1 after 2 overs: Chakravarthy to de Kock. OUT! KKR strikes early! Chakravarthy induces the false shot from de Kock by coming round the wicket. Chakravarthy slides it into his pads as there is minimum turn on that one. de Kock is cramped for room as he aims for the slog over long-on and mistimes it altogether. The ball soars high and straigh to Tripathi who makes no mistake running in. Quinton de Kock c Tripathi b Varun 2 (6b)
Spin from both ends as Varun Chakravarthy enters the attack.
MI 3/0 after 1 over: A superb start for the wily veteran, Harbhajan. Rohit is quick to get off the mark with the single but Harbhajan has followed it up with some tight bowling to de Kock. Bhajji ends the over with a slow arm ball that finds the outside edge off de Kock but no harms done there.
Harbhajan Singh up with the new ball! Here we go, folks! Rohit Sharma on strike.
7:27PM: We are closing in on action at Chepauk! In walks Morgan and Co. onto the field. Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock follows the KKR players onto the middle.
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Rohit v Harbhajan in IPL: 33 runs, 0 dismissals. An early match-up to watch out for. Harbhajan might get more than an over tonight with the left-handed de Kock partnering Rohit at the top.
Slow turners at Chepauk or fiery belters at Wankhede. Hit 'em big and long and take the two points home.
TOSS: Kolkata wins the Toss and elects to Field
MI XI: Rohit Sharma (C), de Kock (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Marco Jansen, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
KKR XI: Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (C), Dinesh Karthik (WK), Andre Russell, Shakib Al Hasan, Harbhajan Singh, Pat Cummins, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy - KKR is unchanged
PITCH REPORT:
We have a black soil surface in play tonight. Pretty similar to the one used in the MI-RCB season opener but a more drier surface by the initial looks. Batting is primed to be difficult in the middle stages and the openers would want to set the tone in the Powerplay.Matthew Hayden suggests that the team winning the Toss would hope to chase given the conditions. With the longer boundaries down the ground, the batsmen will have their task cut out as the bowlers will hope to attack the stumps and keep it away from the batsmen's arc.
Can the Hitman reach the special milestone tonight?
6:33PM: Harbhajan Singh and Rohit Sharma have a brief chat filled with smiles as Bhajji sets down to flip his offies. A whole lot of MI memories right there.
6:16PM: Live pictures show Mumbai's players going about their warm-ups. Hardik Pandya is having a throw-down session. The bigger question would be whether he is fit enough to roll his arm over tonight.
Chepauk hai taiyaar!
Nearly an hour away from the Toss . The Knights will be wondering if this is the right time to strike a telling blow for the Mumbai Indians to cushion the blow dealt by the latter over the years.
The rivalry has been a one-sided affair for too long now and one wonders why KKR has not been able to stop the Mumbai juggernaut. Change in personnel, a solid lineup of stars - none of these have gone in favour for KKR against MI.
Save for that one night in Eden Gardens that happens to roll back from recent memory - the Andre Russell blitz of a 40-ball 80 powered Kolkata to 232/2 and it managed to keep enough pressure to see Mumbai perish within striking distance. In the last five seasons, however,
MI has won the fixture nine times as opposed to KKR's two.
With the side finally seeming to settle under skipper Morgan, Kolkata's hopes will rest on its all-rounder trio of Andre Russell, Shakib Al Hasan and Pat Cummins firing in unison tonight. Mumbai's vulnerabilities at the start, unlike earlier seasons, have seen quicker remedies over the last two years. To further stamp the point, Rohit's Mumbai is the only side that has not lost successive matches in the league since 2019.
NUMBERS GAME
Top performers of last season:
MI has dominated the batting and bowling charts in its victorious season
Ahead of the first encounter between MI and KKR this season
, here are a few stats and numbers to look into...
Predicted XIs
- Match Preview -
In a tournament that has had rivalries and close battles like no other, the KKR-MI duel has been one of those rare one-sided offerings over the course of the last 13 years. With a head-to-head record that reads 21-6 in Mumbai's favour, tonight's clash has its hot favourite way ahead of the first ball. However, the slow-starter Mumbai Indians has begun in typical fashion - a loss to Royal Challengers Bangalore in the season opener. While most teams would brood over its poor start, MI skippers reiterated that the 'title was more important than the first match.'
ALSO READ | IPL 2021 preview: Can KKR break the MI jinx?
As for Kolkata, a slender yet firm win over Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday would boost its morale ahead of the clash with its nemesis, MI at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Wednesday.
WHERE TO WATCH TODAY'S IPL 2021 MATCH - KKR vs MI LIVE?
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