Five-time champions Mumbai Indians registered their first win of the season by defeating Kolkata Knight Riders by 10 runs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) match on Tuesday, thanks to the brilliant spin bowling of Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya. KKR needed 31 runs to win in the last five overs with six wickets remaining, but the Mumbai bowlers snatched the win from them. While Rahul took four wickets for 27 runs in four overs, Krunal took one wicket after spending just 13 runs in four overs. Trent Boult also bowled brilliantly in the last over and took two wickets. He conceded admitted 27 runs in four overs.
Earlier, Andre Russell took five wickets in the last over, leaving Mumbai Indians all out for 152 in 20 overs, batting first. Even after the partnership of 72 runs for the first wicket between Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill, KKR’s team could only manage 142 runs for seven wickets in 20 overs. Chasing the target, Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana gave KKR a brilliant start. Nitish Rana opened the account with a four off the very first ball of Trent Boult’s innings. He hit a six off the first ball of Bolt’s next over and then hit a four.
Rana Pollard in the eighth over while Shubman hit a four and a six off Rahul Chahar’s balls in the ninth over. Chahar, however, broke the 72-run partnership for the first wicket by dismissing Shubman in the same over. Chahar then caught Rahul Tripathi (05) at the hands of wicketkeeper Quinton Dickock. He scored a third success by dismissing Morgan (07). He brought Mumbai’s hopes to life by stumping Rana in the next over. Rana hit two sixes and four fours in his 47-ball innings.
In the very next over, Krunal Pandya had Shakib Al Hasan (09) caught by Suryakumar Yadav. He then dripped Russell’s catch on his own ball but spent just one run in this over. Russell got another chance in Krunal’s next over. This time, Bumrah leaked his easy catch. KKR needed 19 runs to win in the last two overs, but despite the presence of Dinesh Karthik and Russell at the crease, Bumrah conceded just four runs. Bolt ensured the victory of Mumbai Indians by dismissing Russell and Pat Cummins for two consecutive balls in the last over. Russell scored nine runs in 15 balls while Cummins was dismissed without opening the account. Karthik remained unbeaten after scoring eight runs off 11 balls.
Earlier, Russell took five wickets for 15 runs in two overs, allowing Mumbai to lose just 38 runs after losing seven wickets in the last five hours. Suryakumar Yadav, who is in a great rhythm for Mumbai, scored 56 and captain Rohit Sharma scored 43 runs. Both shared a 76-run partnership for the second wicket but none other than them played a big innings. KKR captain Morgan started the bowling with spinners from both ends after winning the toss.
Russell, who came for bowling in the 18th over of Mumbai’s innings, walked Kieron Pollard and Marco Janson for two consecutive balls. However, he missed a hat-trick. Krunal Pandya hit two consecutive fours in the last over, but Russell ended his nine-ball innings by catching 15 runs. On the very next ball, he sent Jasprit Bumrah to the pavilion without opening the account, while Rahul Chahar was dismissed on the last ball. Pat Cummins took two wickets for KKR, while Varun Chakraborty, Shakib Al Hasan and the famous Krishna took one wicket each.
