Cracking half centuries from Rohit Sharma and Corey Anderson were not enough to get Mumbai Indians off to a winning start in the IPL-8 season, as they went down to Kolkata Knight Riders by seven wickets at the Eden Gardens Stadium on Wednesday night.

Sharma’s unbeaten 98 and Anderson’s 55 not out, propelled Mumbai Indians to 168 for three; a terrific recovery from 37 for 3. Sharma, in the process, became only the second man to score 3,000 IPL runs, after Suresh Raina.

But half century from Gautam Gambhir and 40s from Manish Pandey and Suryakumar Yadav took KKR home with nine deliveries and seven wickets to spare.

Kolkata Knight Riders were quite steady with their chase. Skipper Gambhir played the anchor role really well, making sure that the required run-rate stayed in control. His 85-run stand with Pandey led the foundation for the chase. This partnership came off just 55 deliveries, with Pandey scoring 40 from 24 deliveries. They were severe on Mumbai Indians’ spin duo of Harbhajan Singh and Pragyan Ojha. Together, they went for 61 from six overs. Gambhir’s 57 came from 43 deliveries, and included seven fours and a six.

Jasprit Bumrah bowled a smart bouncer to get rid of Gambhir, which kept Mumbai Indians in with a chance. But Yadav and Pathan sealed the game for the hosts with an unbeaten 49-run stand off just 25 deliveries. Yadav was in top gear, hitting five sixes and a four in his 20-ball 46-run knock.

Earlier, an unbroken 131-run stand between Sharma and Anderson took Mumbai Indians to a more than respectable 168 for 3 after being put in to bat first.

The start wasn’t really great for the visitors, as Aaron Finch was dismissed in the second over. Aditya Tare, batting at No 3, looked good for a couple of overs before being fooled by a really slow delivery from left-arm spinner Shakib. Morkel removed Ambati Rayudu for a duck, and Mumbai Indians were in trouble at 37 for 3 at the end of Power-play overs.

Sharma and Anderson needed to buckle down and stitch together some sort of partnership. And the duo began cautiously, taking ones and twos at every possible opportunity. Anderson needed nine deliveries to get off the mark, a boundary off Morkel. It looked a real challenge for Mumbai Indians, 80 for 3 after 14 overs, to get to the 150-mark.

But things changed dramatically from there on, as Sharma launched into Umesh Yadav. Having hit the pacer for three fours in an over earlier, the Mumbai Indians skipper hammered the Vidarbha pacer for three fours and a six, as 21 runs came from over No 15.

Sharma then went after Sunil Narine couple of overs later, hitting him for a four and a six. By now, Anderson was really striking the ball well, as the heavily built left-hander went after Andre Russell and Shakib. 88 runs came from the last six overs, and Sharma-Anderson finished with an unbroken 131-run stand for the fourth wicket off 88 balls. Sharma finished unbeaten on 98 from just 65 deliveries, hitting 12 fours and four sixes. Anderson’s unbeaten 55 came from 41 balls, and included four fours and three sixes.