May 13, 2017
Brief Scorecard: Mumbai Indians 173 for 5 (Rayudu 63, Tiwary 52, Boult 2-30) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 164 for 8 (Pandey 33, de Grandhomme 29, Hardik 2-22) by nine runs
Kolkata succumbed to a nine-run loss to remain on 16 points at the end of the league stage.
May 13, 2017
Brief Scorecard: Mumbai Indians 173 for 5 (Rayudu 63, Tiwary 52, Boult 2-30) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 164 for 8 (Pandey 33, de Grandhomme 29, Hardik 2-22) by nine runs
Kolkata succumbed to a nine-run loss to remain on 16 points at the end of the league stage.
KOLKATA – Sunrisers Hyderabad's win against Gujarat Lions, and a strong bout of kalboishakhi, the seasonal downpour commonly experienced in eastern India around this time of the year, added to the drama before Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians locked horns in a delayed 54th match of the Indian Premier League 2017 in Kolkata on Saturday (May 13) night.
The on-field action at a packed Eden Gardens added to the exciting script, as Kolkata succumbed to a nine-run loss to remain on 16 points at the end of the league stage, with Mumbai moving to 20 points and sealing the No.1 spot.
While Kolkata will qualify for the playoffs, they will do so in the third or fourth place now, depending on the result of the Kings XI Punjab v Rising Pune Supergiant match on Sunday.
Mumbai, who made as many as six changes to test their bench strength ahead of playoffs, fought hard to post 173 for 5 in their 20 overs, and in response, Kolkata could only manage 164 for 8, falling tantalisingly close to their target thanks to a combination of going-for-glory shots and clinical bowling in the second dig.
At the halfway mark, Rayudu revealed that the pitch, which was under covers for a long time before the match got underway, was sticky in nature, and was making the ball grip on to the strip a bit too much for the batsmen's liking. Under such circumstances, the chase was never going to be an easy one for the home side.
In the first over itself, Kolkata lost Sunil Narine, who has tormented sides with some blistering cameos in this edition already, holing out to Hardik Pandya while trying to smack Tim Southee over the infield.
Hardik Pandya gave away only four runs off the final over, Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians, IPL 2017, Kolkata, May 13, 2017 – BCCI
Gautam Gambhir (21 off 16) and Chris Lynn (26 off 14) kept Kolkata's pursuit on track with a second-wicket stand of 41 off 39 balls, but the deafening roars triggered by some splendid hits to the fence were silenced by Mitchell Johnson, who sent the Kolkata captain back to the hut off a miscued hit to Karn Sharma in the fifth over.
Robin Uthappa, who has been in good form through the competition, left nine balls later, and Lynn followed suit in the seventh over to further dent the home team’s progress, but the scoreboard kept ticking with Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan taking over in the middle.
Pathan whacked three sixes in his short cameo that brought him 20 off seven deliveries, and even after he departed in the ninth over, the equation read 87 from 66 balls – a manageable target given Kolkata's depth in batting.
Pandey and Colin de Grandhomme got together to string a fourth-wicket stand of 41 off 31 balls to continue the resistance, but once the latter was castled by Hardik in the 15th over, Mumbai were in a great position to take control over the proceedings.
Pandey only had Kuldeep Yadav for support at the other end, but he wasn't going to give up easily. He fought on till the 18th over, almost taking Kolkata close to an improbable win, but succumbed to the temptation of playing a big shot off Hardik and looping a catch to J Suchith, the substitute fielder, at deep midwicket. He hit 33 at run-a-ball with two boundaries against his name.
It was a tough task for Kuldeep, Umesh Yadav and rest of the tailenders to take their side over the line from then on, and in the end, it was only a matter of time before Mumbai raced to their 10th victory of the league stage, and their 100th T20 win overall – the first team to get to the landmark.
Earlier, sent in to bat, Mumbai lost Lendl Simmons early, caught by Narine off Trent Boult's bowling, but a second-wicket stand of 57 from 36 balls between Saurabh Tiwary and Rohit Sharma eased the nerves, and put the visiting side back on track.
Rohit hit four boundaries and a six in his 21-ball knock of 27, and once he departed, trapped lbw off Ankit Rajpoot, Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu got together to take Mumbai forward.
The third-wicket association between the duo yielded 61 off 46 balls, before Tiwary was run out for 52 off 43 in the 16th over, with the scoreboard reading 130 for 3. The Jharkhand batsman, playing in his first match of the season, hit nine boundaries during his stay in the middle.
Ambati Rayudu's 63 off 37 balls helped set a base for a Mumbai Indians win that took them to the top of the IPL points table – BCCI
Rayudu, who had to be stretchered off the field during Mumbai's first game because of a groin injury, made a solid comeback with a blistering 37-ball 63, and hit six boundaries and three sixes to drag Mumbai to the competitive total with some help from Kieron Pollard (13 off 11) at the other end.
Courtesy: Wisden India
