Mumbai Indians beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 8 wickets in Abu Dhabi in the reverse leg to go to 12 points and continue their stay at the top of the table. Kolkata have now lost both their games against Mumbai in IPL 2020 as the tally now reads 21-6 in Mumbai’s favour. Kolkata Knight Riders was led by a new captain in the form of Eoin Morgan, after Dinesh Karthik, decided to step down earlier in the day.
Kolkata Knight Riders under a new captain in Eoin Morgan won the toss and elected to bat. However, it was familiar problems for the KKR top-order as they lost wickets at regular intervals. They lost two wickets inside the powerplay and were 61 for 5 after the first 10 overs of their innings.
Eoin Morgan (39) found a new partner in Pat Cummins (53) as the duo took the team score to 148 after 20 overs adding an unbeaten stand of 87 runs in the back 10 overs. Cummins scored his maiden IPL fifty in the process. Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell yet again failed to score runs for the side as their lean patch continues.
Mumbai Indians bowlers kept chipping away with wickets right from the start of the innings. Exploiting Andre Russell’s weakness against short-pitched deliveries Jasprit Bumrah got his wicket in the 11th over. Rahul Chahar with his guile and spin variations bamboozled Dinesh Karthik as he castled him. Diminishing returns from these two senior players have hurt Kolkata Knight Riders’ season badly so far.
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Mumbai Indians Maintain Wood Over Kolkata Knight Riders
Mumbai Indians cruised to the target courtesy Quinton De Kock unbeaten 78 off 44 deliveries. His knock included nine fours and three sixes as he was particularly dismissive off the short ball. Rohit Sharma (35) added a 94 run-stand fir the first wicket, thereby batting KKR out of the game.
Suryakumar Yadav (10) had a rare failure as Hardik Pandya scored a quickfire 21 to close the game in the 17th over. This win has also boosted Mumbai Indians’s net run-rate (+1.353) by manifolds as they get closer to confirm a spot in the playoffs.
The Mumbai batsmen were hardly troubled by the KKR bowlers. Pat Cummins had another bad day with the ball. He bowled three overs for 28. This is the sixth game of the season in which Cummins did not get a wicket for his side. Once Cummins failed to provide KKR early breakthroughs, it was always going to be difficult for other bowlers to take wickets.
What Was The Turning Point In The Game?
KKR bowlers unable to take wickets in the powerplay, defending such a low score tuned out to be the turning point at the end of the game. Mumbai Indians openers added 94 for the first wicket and thereby taking the game away from their opposition.
Quinton de Kock for his unbeaten knock was awarded the Man of the Match. This was his third-highest IPL in the league’s history.
To be honest, I’m not very sure – it’s the best shot I have in my armoury (talking about his leg-side game), I like to play it and it’s nice when it comes off. It’s all about keeping my balance, I don’t work too much on the cross-bat shots, it’s important to stay in line while playing those. I was disappointed at not finishing it off last game” said De Kock after his match-winning contribution for Mumbai Indians.
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