Momentum plays a key role in T20s: Karn Sharma

In an all important Qualifier 2 at the M. Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru, Mumbai Indians (MI) beat the two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) quite handsomely. Opting to bowl first, MI bowling attack led by Karn Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah bundled out KKR for a mediocre score of 107. With the depth Mumbai has in its batting lineup it was never going to be difficult for them to chase down the total and they did so with 6 wickets in hands and 33 balls to spare. This sets up the summit clash between the two teams from Maharashtra- Pune (RPS) and Mumbai (MI).

Going into the match, the MI team management shocked everyone when it decided to persist with Karn Sharma instead of going back to a veteran like Harbhajan Singh. However, Karn justified their faith and went on to put forth his best T20 performance. The right-arm spinner first foxed Sunil Narine with a wide googly and then came back to get rid of KKR’s skipper Gautam Gambhir. On the very next delivery, he made things worst for Kolkata as the clueless Colin de Grandhomme was caught plumb in front of the stumps.

For a while after this, Ishan Jaggi and Suryakumar Yadav tried to rebuild KKR’s innings with some sensible batting. These two added 56 runs for the sixth wicket. However, Karn was now reintroduced for his second spell which once again broke Kolkata’s momentum. Jaggi after scoring 28 was caught at long-on by Mitchell Johnson. Sharma finished his quota of overs with brilliant figures of 4-0-16-4. He was named the player of the match for his match-winning performance.

Speaking in the post-match presentation Karn expressed his belief that momentum plays a key role in T20s. “We are playing well against them [KKR], last two matches we have won. It’s a T20 game, we got the momentum and won the game,” he said.

“T20 is all about momentum. We started well in the first six overs. That’s why we were in the game and won the game,” he further added.

Talking about the pitch

“Wicket was a little bit slow. Not like it used to be in Bangalore before. But it was good for us that we bowled well from the start and got wickets in the middle. That’s more important,” Karn said.

MI will now lock horns with Rising Pune Supergiant on May 21 (Sunday) in the finals of IPL 10 which will be played in Hyderabad.