Navi Mumbai, May 9: Jasprit Bumrah’s mesmerizing spell of 5/10, which included three wickets in one over, was in vain as Kolkata Knight Riders kept their slim hopes of reaching the IPL 2022 playoffs, beating Mumbai Indians by 52 runs in DY Patil Stadium on Monday. En route to posting career-best IPL figures with a barrage of short balls, Bumrah broke the back of Kolkata’s innings in the intermissions, restricting them to 165/9 in 20 overs.
In response, Mumbai was never in the running to chase 166, dropping to 113 in 17.3 overs. Except for Ishan Kishan’s 51, none of the Mumbai batsmen in a lineup except Suryakumar Yadav were able to get the big runs, as Pat Cummins and Andre Russell shared five wickets between them, using the short balls to good effect. The result means that Kolkata now move up to seventh place in the points table.
Kolkata drew first blood in the opening when Sheldon Jackson flew to his right and caught Rohit Sharma in his right glove off Tim Southee.
The on-field umpire failed to notify him, Kolkata went in for review and the ultra-rim showed multiple spikes as the ball passed before and after hitting the bat. But the third umpire was convinced a center spike showed the ball connecting with the bat enough to overturn the call on the field, leaving Sharma furious as he stormed off the field.
Tilak Varma, promoted to three in the absence of Suryakumar Yadav, was unable to make much of the opportunity and dribbled in a short ball wide for Russell’s first slide. Ramandeep Singh never seemed to settle in the crease before missing a back flip from Russell.
In the midst of all this, Kishan hit five fours against the pace and spin and found support from Tim David, who began a run with a fours hat-trick through the square leg, middle and middle of the wicket in front. to Russell. But Varun Chakravarthy separated the duo, forcing David to walk past.
Kishan continued to hold at the crease, pushing Sunil Narine fiercely over the middle of the deep wicket and took a single to bring in his 12th IPL fifty in 41 balls. But in the ensuing over, Kishan couldn’t get on top of a Cummins bouncer, overcoming a deep square-leg pull back.
That started Mumbai’s downfall as Cummins took out Daniel Sams in the same way and ended with Murugan Ashwin jumping straight to the third man. Kolkata eliminated the last three wickets, including a faded Kieron Pollard, for just one run to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Previously, Venkatesh Iyer perished early, but not before leading Kolkata to their first 50+ power-play position with a 24-ball 43, while Nitish Rana made the same score from 26 balls. But Bumrah stopped Kolkata’s fast and furious run, starting by taking Russell out with a short ball, which he could only send long distance.
Three balls later, Bumrah rebounded off a well-placed Rana and the ball carried the edge of Kishan’s glove. He came back in the 18th, claiming Sheldon Jackson with a short flick to the deep, square leg.
Bumrah then welcomed Cummins with a bouncer and took him out on the next ball with an awkward short ball caught safely square leg. Sunil Narine tried to fend off a short ball from Bumrah, only for the bowler to run in and catch the follow-up, bringing Mumbai back into the match.
Venkatesh had started the innings by dispatching Murugan Ashwin on a deep back square leg for six, followed by drilling a drive into a googly deck. His partner, Ajinkya Rahane, was cool as he foured Bumrah with a cut point.
Venkatesh made his intentions to maximize the power play clear, going downfield and cutting Riley Meredith on point. He was followed by him shuffling and rolling a six on a skinny leg. Venkatesh then raised Kolkata’s fifty by getting an outside edge past Kumar Kartikeya Singh’s third man and then pulled out a slow sweep to hit a clean six into the middle of the deep wicket.
But Kartikeya had the last laugh as Venkatesh went for another slog, only to the top edge to cover the point. Rana hit the ground running with a creamy drive over cover to finish the power play on a high. Rahane advanced with some limits, but an uncharacteristic reverse sweep from Kartikeya saw him lose the stump of his leg.
Rana then hit six straight on the ground to take out Kolkata’s hundred in 11 overs. He liked Pollard’s middling pace, welcoming him with an inside-out loft over additional coverage for six. The southpaw took a four and another six, through extra and deeper coverage in the middle of the wicket, respectively, to take 17 runs from the other side.
Although Ashwin took out Shreyas Iyer with a broken leg that gave the keeper a bit of an edge. From there, Bumrah came along and broke Kolkata’s batting back, restricting them to a pair overall. But it was not enough for Mumbai to avoid its ninth loss of the season.
Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 165/9 in 20 overs (Venkatesh Iyer 43, Nitish Rana 43, Jasprit Bumrah 5/10, Kumar Kartikeya Singh 2/32) beat Mumbai Indians 113 in 17.3 overs (Ishan Kishan 51, Kieron Pollard 15; Pat Cummins 3/22, Andre Russell 2/22) for 52 runs