MI hand KKR 102-run defeat, move to 4th position on points table Mumbai Indians beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 102 runs and moved to the fourth spot on the VIVO IPL points table. Ishan Kishan made 102 runs
In the 41st match of the VIVO Indian Premier League (IPL) 2018, Mumbai Indians pulled a stellar performance against Kolkata Knight Riders, defeating them by 102 runs at the Eden Gardens. With this victory, Mumbai also climbed to the fourth spot of the VIVO IPL points table. Put to bat first, Mumbai Indians set the target of 211 runs for Kolkata Knight Riders. As the saying goes --fortune favours the brave--when it seemed that Kolkata bowlers would finish off Mumbai's innings even before 20 overs, Ishan Kishan emerged and bravely went for big shots. He ended up hitting 62 runs off just 21 balls including six sixes. Rohit Sharma also contributed significant runs. Earlier, Mumbai openers Suryakumar Yadav and Lewis were exposed to Spin bowling. Piyush Chawla got the breakthrough in his first over and Lewis had to depart on an unusual dismissal.
Kolkata Knight Riders innings analysis after end of innings Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine opened the batting for KKR. Mitchell McClenaghan started the first over. Narine did what he is expected to do and hit a lofted off-drive for a boundary. But the show didn't last long as he hit the next ball high up in the sky gave away his wicket rather cheaply at short covers. Robin Uthappa was the next man in. Lynn got two consecutive boundaries and that ended a successful over for MI. Krunal Pandya bowled a tight second over giving away just 2 runs. MI looked in control as no easy runs were coming in for KKR. McClenaghan returned with the third over. Chris Lynn wanting to change the narrative smashed him for six and a four. KKR was 25/1 after 3 overs. Krunal picked up the fourth over from where he had left the second one. Got hit for a six but MI made a comeback thanks to a crucial run-out of Chris Lynn. Nitish Rana joined Uthappa at the crease. Apart from a six in Bumrah's over, MI was scoring at a rate of 7.5 runs per over, much lower than the required run rate of over 11.40. Hardik Pandya came in with the last over of the powerplay and was welcomed with a boundary of the very first ball of the over. Only one more boundary came in this over. KKR stood at a modest 47/2 after 6 overs. KKR wasn't having the best of their nights as Mayank Markande stricken in his very first over, getting rid of Uthappa. Andre Russell came next. KKR was finding it difficult to mark the rhythm to chase such a huge total, losing wickets at regular intervals. Hardik Pandya came to bowl the eighth over looking to build up the pressure on the batsmen. The strategy paid off and Pandya managed to dismiss the dangerous man Russell who went for a lofted drive but didn't get the required height, hitting straight into the hands of Markande. Karthik was the new man in. The required rate had climbed up to 13.0 runs per over when Markande bowled a comparatively expensive ninth over. KKR was struggling at 67/4 at the end of 9 overs. Nothing seemed to be going KKR's way. Hardik started the 10th over and KKr lost two consecutive wickets. First, it Duminy who ran Karthik out, and then Nitish Rana fell victim to Pandya, which seemed to be the last nail in the coffin for KKR. Two new batsmen, Rinku Singh and Tom Curran, were on the crease. Hardik ended a wonderfully successful over conceding just 5 runs and taking two wickets. Bumrah started the 11th over and was welcomed with a boundary. Bumarah came back with a bang and dismissed Rinku Singh on the very next ball. Piyush Chawla was the next man in. Cutting came in with the 12th over. scored a decent over giving away just 5 runs. Although he got hit for a four, nothing appeared to excite the Kolkata crowd when defeat looked certain for KKR. KKR was 82/7 after 12 overs. Mumbai Indians innings analysis after 20 overs KKR won the toss and invited Rohit Sharma's MI to bat first. Former KKR man Suryakumar Yadav opened the batting for MI along with Evin Lewis. Andre Russell started with the bowling attack. The ball showed a bit of a swing in the air, while Russell was bowling wider down the off-side. Assessing the situation for a while, Yadav
smashed the ball for a square cut boundary. Russell learnt the lesson and improved his line for the rest of the over. Prasidh Krishna came with the second over bowling to a decent line and length. But, he missed his mark on the last ball and Yadav punished him with a flat six towards the deep third man. Tom Curran also started with outside-off deliveries and Lewis wacked him for a boundary towards covers. MI stood at 24/0 after 3 overs. Always the go-to man whenever there's need for a breakthrough, Sunil Narine came to bowl the fourth over. Bowled perfectly well throughout the over trying multiple variations, apart from last delivery which added another four runs in MI's kitty. The youngster Prasidh returned with the fifth over, showing inconsistency with his line. But MI batsmen were unable to go after him, bagging only 7 runs. Up for a decent start with 37 for none, MI batsmen decided to up the ante in the sixth over. Yadav smashed two consecutive boundaries but MI lost Lewis through an unlucky dismissal, who got caught at short third man. MI were 47/1 after the powerplay. Looking for another breakthrough, Karthik brought back Narine in the seventh over. Batsmen struggled to score runs and Narine leaked just 4 runs in his over. Karthik continued with the spin bowlers in the 8th and 9th over as well. Kuldeep and Chawla managed to tighten the grip over MI batsmen and they looked restless to hit some big shots. The pressure was mounting and Suryakumar Yadav fell prey to it losing his wicket while trying a pull shot. MI was struggling at 62/2 after 9 overs.
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