IPL 2019: Match 56, MI vs KKR, Review – Dispirited Knights pave way for SRH after a poor show against Mumbai

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) had their fortunes in their own hands. With the way things have progressed in the last few games, NRR was out of contention. All they had to do was to get over the line against the Mumbai Indians (MI) in some way or the other. However, the side put up one of its worst performances of the season in this critical encounter to make an exit from this edition of the tournament.

This loss, however, has brought jubilation to the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) camp. The ‘Men in Orange’ became the first ever team to get into the playoffs with just 12 points. The MI bowlers put up a great show and the batsmen backed it up with a clinical performance. Mumbai Indians finished at the top of the points table and will meet the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Qualifier-1. Delhi Capitals (DC) will battle it out against Hyderabad in the Eliminator.

Andre Russell registers his first single-digit score in the tournament

The Knight Riders got off to a decent start after they were put into bat first. Despite losing Shubman Gill for just 9 runs, Chris Lynn kept his foot on the pedal and tried to take the attack to the bowlers. However, after scoring 41 runs from 29 balls, he got out in the 9th over. Robin Uthappa’s struggles continued in this match and his knock potentially cost KKR the game. He played a maiden in the 11th over building pressure on skipper Dinesh Karthik at the other end.

The wicketkeeper tried to play a big shot in the 13th over and perished in the process. Lasith Malinga came out with the ploy of bowling a short ball from around the wicket and it worked wonders. Andre Russell was dismissed for a golden duck as KKR ship sank further. Despite Nitish Rana trying to accelerate with a 13-ball 26, it got a bit too much for him as Uthappa continued to play sluggishly from the other end. In the end, he faced 47 deliveries and could only score 40 runs as his team finished with a below-par total of 133/7 in 20 overs.

Rohit Sharma tried to find some form as he spent valuable time in the middle

This small target set by the Knight Riders turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Rohit Sharma. Quinton de Kock went hard early on and scored 30 runs from 23 balls which gave the skipper some time to settle in. He made most of the opportunity ahead of the playoffs and tried to spend as much time as possible in the middle. Since the required run rate wasn’t too high, he had the luxury of scoring his runs at a slow pace.

Suryakumar Yadav played the perfect partner for Rohit in this match. He was the aggressor and kept chipping in with regular boundaries. While Sharma remained unbeaten on 55 off 48 balls, Yadav scored 46 runs from 27 balls. It was the latter who finished the game for his team with a six.

Brief Scores:

KKR: 133/7 in 20 overs (Chris Lynn 41, Robin Uthappa 40, Lasith Malinga 3/35)

MI: 134/1 in 16.1 overs (Rohit Sharma 55*, Suryakumar Yadav 46*, Prasidh Krishna 1/22)

Result: Mumbai Indians won the match by 9 wickets.

Man of the Match: Hardik Pandya

Points Table

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