MI vs KKR: Bumrah five-for in vain as Kolkata Knight Riders beats Mumbai Indians

Rapid knocks from Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish Rana and a disciplined effort from the seamers ensure Knight Riders’ 52-run rout of Mumbai Indians.

KKR players rejoice after their emphatic win over MI at the D. Y. Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

Jasprit Bumrah’s fiery spell went in vain as Kolkata Knight Riders put up a disciplined effort with the ball to defend 165 comfortably for a 52-run win at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Pat Cummins (3 for 22) and Tim Southee (1 for 10) probed away on a good length and reaped their rewards to keep their team in the hunt for the playoffs.

After being stunned by Bumrah during the business end of their innings, the Knight Riders came back strongly to chip away at the opposition from the get-go.

Rohit Sharma fell to a strange dismissal in the first over, caught behind off Southee. Tilak Varma and Ramandeep Singh fell trying to hit belligerent strokes off Andre Russell, while Tim David, after a feisty start to his innings, top-edged after attempting to pull C. V. Varun.

Ishan Kishan (51, 43b, 5x4, 1x6), however, had held firm at the other end. Playing the deliveries on merit, he found the odd boundary through sweetly-timed drives in the ‘V’. When he, too, couldn’t resist the fatal pull shot, the Knight Riders were well and truly on top. Cummins took two more in the same over, both off short deliveries. Poor running by the lower-order batters speeded up the decline.

 

Brilliant Bumrah

That Mumbai had a fighting chance at the halfway stage was mainly due to an excellent bowling performance from Bumrah. Troubling batters with his yorkers and short deliveries, Bumrah claimed his maiden five-wicket haul (5 for 10) in the IPL as the Knight Riders lost their way after a bright start to their innings. The last six wickets fell for 28 runs.

Venkatesh Iyer (43, 24b, 3x4, 4x6), returning to the playing eleven after sitting out the last two games, helped his team post its highest total in the PowerPlay this season - 64 runs - before Nitish Rana (43, 26b, 3x4, 4x6) took the baton from him and kept the boundaries coming. The batters then perished one after the other to pull shots off sharp, rising deliveries from Bumrah.

Bumrah changed the complexion of the game in the 15th over, softening Russell with a sharp yorker before testing him with a short delivery directed at his chest. Andre went for the pull but holed out to the fielder at long-on.

Rana fell in the same over, attempting to play the upper cut. In Bumrah’s next over, three batters were caught out after they tried to pull the fast deliveries.