MI vs KKR – Match Report
Mumbai Indians played an amazing game of cricket to out-class the knights and secure a win in their last match at the Wankhede stadium. MI did well and restricted KKR to 174/5 after they had got off to a flyer.MI batted beautifully as they cruised to victory with two overs to spare and with 6 wickets in hand. Rohit Sharma played the role of a sheet anchor and made sure the Wankhede crowd had no reason to be disappointed.
The two teams started trading blows early in the innings when hitman bludgened one into the orbit in the very 1st over. KKR came back strongly as Parthiv Patel was caught at first slip by Yusuf Pathan. Ambati Rayudu joined the skipper in the middle and put on 59 runs for the 2nd wicket. It took a spectacular effort from Surya Kumar Yadav on the boundary line to dismiss Rayudu and break the partnership which was threatening to take the match away from KKR. Rohit Sharma stayed at one end trying to build a partnership but he kept losing partners at the other end until Kieron Pollard walked in. Pollard’s form was blowing hot and cold throughout this IPL season and he couldn’t have picked a better day to come back in form. The beast was unleashed and KKR bowlers bore the brunt of a blitzkrieg innings from Pollard 51*(17) as he equalled the record for the fastest 50 this season along with Chris Morris. Rohit Sharma 68*(49) too stayed till the end to finish the game with two overs to spare.
Earlier in the game, MI won the toss and chose to bowl first. The two kiwi spearhead opened the bowling for MI and kept the KKR batsman at bay. Mitchell McClenaghan was hitting the deck hard to generate pace and bounce making the batsman uncomfortable. He almost reaped the benefits, when Gautam Gambhir top edged a delivery, but to the dismay of all MI fans, McClenaghan dropped the skier. Gambhir made most of his second life as he immediately started attacking. Robin Uthappa joined his skipper in the onslaught as the two started scoring freely through the power play. KKR zoomed to 59 at the end of6 overs. Even Uthappa got a reprieve when Parthiv Patel fumbled a stumping chance, but Uthappa couldn’t do much damage as he hit a full-toss straight to Pollard at long on. Shakib Al Hasan had a very brief stay at the crease when he nicked a Hardik Pandya bouncer to the keeper. Suryakumar Yadav would have loved to repeat his previous match heroics with the skipper on the other end but he lost his partner, Gambhir, to another McClenaghan bouncer as Pollard caught him at mid-off. MI managed to get a few more wickets but they were very poor in the outfield. Tim Southee dropped regulation catches in consecutive balls off Mitch McClenaghan’s bowling, allowing KKR to reach 174/5.