Kolkata Knight Riders rode on Uthappa’s fine knock to reach a tricky total set by Mumbai Indians, winning the match by 6 wickets on Wednesday.
Chasing MI’s 141, Robin Uthappa and skipper Gautam Gambhir began proceedings for KKR. At the end of 5 overs, KKR was at 40/0, going at 8 runs an over, with the required run rate coming down to 7.75. The duo continued till the end of the 7th over, posting 50/0 at 7.14 runs an over, the required run rate looking just within reach. Just when everything was going fine for KKR, Gautam Gambhir was dismissed, misjudging a Harbhajan Singh delivery and walking back for 14.
The next man to walk in was Manish Pandey, who, together with Uthappa, took the score to 96/1 in 14 overs. However, he soon fell to Harbhajan Singh for 14, bringing in Yusuf Pathan. After belting a couple of sixes, Uthappa soon found himself walking back to the dug out, removed by Simmons for 80. KKR needed 26 runs from 24 balls. Pathan was joined by Shakib Al Hasan and the duo carried the team forward to 136/3 in 18 overs. With 12 balls remaining and 6 runs needed, KKR looked like they had pocketed the match. But the fall of Hasan in the 19th over to Malinga for 9 did scare KKR, but they ultimately made it through, with 8 balls to spare.
Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss and elected to bowl first. Mumbai Indians opened with Simmons and CM Gautam, with none of the batsmen getting off the mark in the first over. The second over was comparatively better, but the frustration got the better of Gautam, who was done in by Morkel’s pace for 8. Rayudu was the new man in for MI and together with Simmons, he looked to up the ante, the IPL way. At the end of 5 overs, MI was scoring at exactly 7 runs an over, posting 35/1 on the board. This partnership was broken in the 6th over, when Simmons was clean bowled by Shakib Al Hasan for 12.
Skipper Rohit Sharma joined the proceedings and they began consolidation work at a cautious pace. Their run rate dropped to 5.75 at the end of the 8th over, 46/2 on the scoreboard. At the end of the 10th over, it picked up with 62/2, taking them to a run rate of 6.2. Rayudu was then taken by Chawla for 33 in the 12th over, bringing his partnership with Rohit Sharma to an end. The next man in was Cory Anderson and with his arrival, Rohit Sharma took some liberty and began stroking the ball around. The 14th over by Chawla yielded 17 runs, with two boundaries and one six, much to the relief of the blue brigade.
At the end of the 15th over MI was 1 shy of the 100 figure mark for the loss of 3 wickets. The 16th over, bowled by Morkel saw Sharma dispatch the ball outside the ropes on two occasions, but also saw the fall of Anderson for 18. Pollard joined Sharma in the middle and the partnership flourished till the 19th over, taking MI to 137/4, at a run rate of 7.21. The last over saw Sharma depart after reaching his half century, dismissed by Narine for 51. At the end of 20 overs, MI managed 141/5.
Â