Abu Dhabi: Mumbai Indians (MI) were at their very best with both bat and ball as they decimated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their IPL encounter sealing a comprehensive eight-wicket victory here, Friday.
Chasing 149, openers – Quinton de Kock (78 n o, 44b, 9×4, 3×6) and skipper Rohit Sharma (35, 36b, 5×4, 1×6) – provided the four-time champions a splendid start. The duo added 94 runs before Shivam Mavi (1/24) got rid of Rohit with a gem of a delivery in the third ball of the 11th over.
Varun Chakravarthy (1/23) then dismissed Suryakumar Yadav (10) three overs later to reduce Mumbai to 111/2. After then it was a one-way traffic for Mumbai as De Kock and Hardik Pandya, who played an 11-ball 21-run cameo including three fours and a six, completed the task with more than three overs to spare.
Earlier, pace spearhead Pat Cummins (53 n o, 36b, 5×4, 2×6) struck an invaluable half century to lift KKR from a hopeless situation to a respectable 148/5.
After a top order failure, it was Cummins and new skipper Eoin Morgan (39 n o, 29b, 2×4, 2×6), who conjured 87 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket, to pull the team out of trouble.
Opting to bat, Kolkata lost opener Rahul Tripathi (7) early, courtesy a sensational catch by Suryakumar Yadav at point, in the third over off Trent Boult (1/32).
It became 33/2 as Nitish Rana (5) perished cheaply after he was caught by De Kock off Nathan Coulter-Nile (1/51) as a short ball worked for the Australian pacer in the sixth over.
Leg-spinner Rahul Chahar (2/18) struck twice in the eight over, removing the young Shubham Gill (21) and Dinesh Karthik (4) off successive balls and reduced Kolkata to 42/4.
KKR lost half their side for 61 as Andre Russell perished for 12. A bouncer from Jasprit Bumrah (1/22) did the trick as Russell lobbed off a sitter to De Kock, who later dropped a sitter to give a lifeline to Cummins. The scoreboard was reading 113/5 back then.
Cummins smashed Nathan Coulter-Nile for two fours and a maximum in the 13th over, which fetched KKR 16 runs and then made optimum use of a life he got. Cummins and Morgan added 53 in the last five overs.
Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 148/5 (Pat Cummins 53 n o, Eoin Morgan 39 n o; Rahul Chahar 2/18, Jasprit Bumrah 1/22) lost to Mumbai Indians 149/2 (Quinton de Kock 78 n o, Rohit Sharma 35, Hardik Pandya 21 n o; Varun Chakravarthy 1/23) by eight wickets.
