Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians (MI) face another embarrassment as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) stay alive in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 playoffs race with 52-run win. MI's bowling spearhead Jasprit Bumrah's fifer went in vain as the five-time IPL champions suffered a major batting collapse, losing six wickets for 13 runs in a matter of 21 deliveries.
Lacklusre powerplay overs
Chasing a target of 166, Rohit Sharma fell early. Tim Southee got his wicket off the final ball of the first over as DRS worked in their favour. Rohit did not seem happy with the decision as he believed that he did not edge the ball to the wicketkeeper. Surprisingly, Shreyas introduced Andre Russell in powerplay overs. MI's leading run-scorer in the season, Tilak Varma fell for a single-digit score to Russell.
Kishan hits fifty
Ishan Kishan anchored the innings. In the powerplay overs, MI managed to post 37/2. Injured Suryakumar Yadav's replacement Ramandeep Singh did not make an impact and got out to Russell in the 11th over. Ramandeep scored just 12 runs from 16 deliveries.
In the same over, Tim David hit Russell for three consecutive boundaries. However, he could not continue the hitting spree and got out in the 13th over to Varun Chakravarthy. Kieron Pollard and Kishan hit a six each to keep the run chase alive. Kishan reached his half-century in the 14th over.
Sudden collapse
In the 15th over, Pat Cummins practically ended MI's run chase with three wickets. His first victim was Kishan followed by Daniel Sams and Murugan Ashwin. In his next over, Kumar Kartikeya got run out. In the 18th over, Pollard and Riley Meredith and got run out off consecutive deliveries. MI got bowled out for 11 in the 18th over with 15 balls left in the innings.
Top-order fires
Brought back into the side after Shreyas made five changes, Venaktesh was fired up in the powerplay overs. He smacked 43 runs from 24 deliveries including three fours and four sixes. He shared a 60-run opening partnership before losing his wicket to Kartikeya in an attempt to overattack. Ajinkya Rahane did not play a blinder but contributed with a 24-ball 25. Promoted up the order, Nitish Rana was impressive too while skipper Shreyas fell to Murugan Ashwin.
Bumrah turns on domination mode
In the 15th over, Bumrah jolted KKR's innings with the wickets of Russell and Rana. The left-handed batter missed his half-century. Rana scored 43 runs from 26 deliveries including three fours and four sixes. Before the over, KKR looked like they will post over 200 by the end of the innings.
In his next over, Bumrah bowled a triple wicket-maiden including the wickets of Sheldon Jackson, Cummins and Narine. He gave just 10 runs to take five wickets, his best bowling figures in IPL. In the penultimate over, Sams got rid of Southee. In the last over, Rinku Singh managed to prevent Bumrah from registering all-time best IPL figures. KKR managed to post 165/9 despite scoring 136/3 in 14 overs.
