ЛЛК chased down 156 in 15.1 overs to beat MI by seven wickets at Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
For all the misery they have suffered at the hands of Mumbai Indians over the years, this is the day Kolkata Knight Riders and its fans will cherish forever. Eoin Morgan-led side claimed a stunning victory over the defending champions by seven wickets on September 23.
It was a complete performance from KKR, one that had Brendan McCullum and Morgan’s brand of cricket written all over it. They were tactically brilliant while bowling, and Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy and Lockie Ferguson did a fantastic job to restrict MI to 155. What followed was an extraordinary batting performance full of intent led by Venkatesh Iyer and Rahul Tripathi, who scored fifties.
As it happened, Morgan won the toss and elected to field first. Mumbai Indians had their skipper Rohit Sharma back, and he, along with Quinton de Kock, started the innings watchfully. The duo wasn’t able to score freely in the first four overs, which were bowled by spinners but pounced on the pacers to make a very good powerplay of 56/0.
KKR spinners Varun and Narine choked the run flow post powerplay, giving away 19 runs in five overs between them. Rohit (33 off 30), trying to break the shackles, holed out at long-on against Narine in the 10th over.
Prasidh Krishna then dismissed Suryakumar Yadav (5 off 10) in the 13th over. De Kock was the standout batter for MI, playing a good knock of 55 off 42. But just when they needed to accelerate, he was dismissed by Prasidh in the 15th over, with the scoreboard reading 106/3.
Ferguson removed Ishan Kishan (14 off 13) with a well-directed bouncer. Kieron Pollard (21 off 15) and Krunal Pandya (12 off 9) managed to push MI’s total over 150. For KKR, Ferguson picked 2/27 while Narine picked 1 for 20 in his four, with Prasidh chipping in with two important wickets as well, albeit at an expensive rate.
Chasing 156, Kolkata Knight Riders made their intentions clear from the get-go. Shubman Gill walked across and deposited Trent Boult into the stands while V Iyer pulled his first ball for a six in the same over.
The duo gave a 40-run start to KKR in 2.5 overs before Jasprit Bumrah cleaned up Gill on 13 off 9. Venkatesh Iyer kept going hard at the other end, playing some awe-inspiring shots on his way to a 25-ball fifty – fastest by a KKR batter against MI.
Rahul Tripathi, who had started watchfully, quickly changed the gears. The duo put on an 88-run partnership in just 8.2 overs, destroying all the hopes for MI of a comeback. Tripathi joined the party with a batting display of his own, bringing up his fifty off 29 balls.
Two deliveries later, Bumrah put an end to Iyer’s magnificent knock on 53 off 30 with a clever slower ball, but it was too late for MI. The knock included four fours and three stunning sixes.
Bumrah removed Morgan (7 off 8) with a short ball, but Rana completed the formality on the first ball of the 16th over to claim a memorable victory. Tripathi remained unbeaten on 74 off 42, which included eight fours and three sixes. Narine was named the ‘Player of the match’ for his match-defining spell.
Kolkata Knight Riders jumped up to the fourth spot with this win, courtesy of a better net run-rate of +0.363. Mumbai Indians took a big hit to their NRR, which reads -0.310 and dropped to sixth place. KKR will face Chennai Super Kings next at Abu Dhabi, while MI will take on RCB at Dubai on the Sunday double-header.
Brief Scores
Mumbai Indians – 155/6 in 20 overs (de Kock 55, Sharma 33; Ferguson 2/27, Krishna 2/43)
Kolkata Knight Riders – 159/3 in 15.1 overs (Tripathi 74*, Iyer 53; Bumrah 3/43) won by seven wickets.
