Mumbai Indians (MI) rode on some sensational hitting by Nitin Rana and Hardik Pandya to pull off a four-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) with one ball to spare in the 20th over to score their first points of the 10th edition of the Indian Premier League at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday. It was two frenetic last overs that saw KKR implode as Pandya captalised on the brilliant work done by Rana to guide his side home.
Chasing KKR’s 178/7. MI ended with 180/6 off 19.5 overs. Rana scored 50 off just 29 overs with five boundaries and three sixes while Pandya clattered 29 not out off just 11 balls. Mumbai had lost their first match off the penultimate ball against rising Pune Supergiant and they reversed their fortune today. They also had to overcome some poor umpiring, including the verdict against MI skipper Rohit Sharma.
Earlier, the KKR innings was completely built around Manish Pandey’s knock. Without that, the Kolkata team would have struggled to cross 150. Pandey’s 81 not out came off just 47 balls, with the aid of five sixes and five boundaries. It was his murderous hitting that allowed KKR to score 34 runs off the last two overs. Chris Lynn contributed 32 runs.Mumbai found a new weapon in the spin of Krunal Pandya, as he claimed three wickets including the vital one of Gautam Gambhir. Veteran Sri Lankan Lasith Malinga, playing his first match of the tournament, picked up two wickets.
