It was a real thriller at the MCA Stadium Pune where Kolkata Knight Riders have secured their 3rd win of the season to climb to the No.1 spot in the points table.
Starting with the toss, KKR won it and decided to have a bowl.
Mumbai Indians didn’t have a good start with the bat as both Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan were dismissed early on.
Dewald Brevis and Suryakumar Yadav then built up the score for Mumbai. SKY, back for his first game of this season scored a half-century off just 36 deliveries.
At the fag end of the Mumbai Indians’ innings, Tilak Verma and Kieron Pollard hit massive blows to take the score to 161.
It was then time for Kolkata Knight Riders to chase down 162 runs from 120 balls.
The wicket at Pune usually favours that team that bats first.
Teams batting first at the MCA have always won matches.
It was a rather slow start for the Kolkata Knight Riders as both Ajinkya Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer struggled.
Ajinkya Rahane mistimed his shot which cost him his wicket.
Shreyas Iyer and Sam Billings along with Venkatesh tried to capitalize and stabilize the innings for KKR.
But they too got out quickly and even Andre Russell proved ineffective against the spin and pace attack of Mumbai.
Then came Pat Cummins and he played an extraordinary inning of 56 from just 15 balls. Venkatesh Iyer just watched from the other end and didn’t get much of a chance to bat.
Both Pat and Venkatesh remained unbeaten on their half-centuries and took their team home, winning the match by 5 wickets and 24 balls to spare.
Player of the Match
Pat Cummins for his 2/49 and 56* (15)
Post Match Reactions
Rohit Sharma, Mumbai Indians skipper said that he didn’t even know that Cummins would play an inning like that but the pitch just got better as the game progressed in the second innings. Added that they didn’t have a good start with the bat but the additional 70 runs in the last 5 overs were really helpful for them. Adds that they pretty much had the game in control but this loss would not be an easy one to digest for them. Ended by saying that they have been in this position previously but now don’t want to anymore.
Shreyas Iyer, Kolkata Knight Riders captain said that it was really an extraordinary inning from Cummins. Said that he was mighty impressed with Pat’s hitting today although he was getting bowled out in the net session. Also said that he had informed Venkatesh to provide an anchor to other batsmen and to time the ball well. Also mentioned that the top four batsmen from their side need to step up and take responsibility as they haven’t played good cricket today. Ended by saying that the pitch was the same when they started batting but then became easy to bat on.
Next Match
Kolkata Knight Riders will next play Delhi Capitals on the 10th of April at the Brabourne Stadium while Mumbai Indians will be facing the Royal Challengers Bangalore on the 9th of April at the MCA Stadium in Pune.
