Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Piyush Chawla, and Hrithik Shokeen all contributed to Mumbai Indians’ impressive win over Kolkata Knight Riders on a special day for the team.
The Mumbai team’s all-around effort overshadowed Venkatesh Iyer’s 51-ball 104 that lifted the Knight Riders to 185. Iyer ended the Knight Riders’ 15-year streak of not having an IPL century since Brendon McCullum’s 158*, while the other hitters lacked consistency.
As a result, Knight Riders came in below average, and their situation was made worse by Kishan’s dominance on the power play (58 out of 25). The alternate captain, Suryakumar, then displayed some of his best play (43 off 25), while Tilak Varma and Tim David made significant contributions to finish the innings.
Arjun Tendulkar, the son of Indian batting master Sachin Tendulkar, also made his debut. He bowled two overs with a new ball that had potential.
Venkatesh ends KKR’s century curse
Timing is not always as important as intent. In Venkatesh’s situation, it seemed like such. After N Jagadeesan was out early for a duck, he hammered Tendulkar and Cameron Green for sixes to advance to 19 in eight balls quickly.
When he wasn’t timing it, he was still clearing the boundaries as he frequently sprinted out of his stance and used his reach to turn length balls into larger deliveries. Additionally, he survived a few inside edges, including the one that brought him to fifty in only 23 deliveries that flew past the stumps for four.
Venkatesh had moments when he appeared to be in class. Like in the 11th and 12th overs, when he pulled both Riley Meredith and rookie Duan Jansen, Marco’s twin, for sixes. Venkatesh occasionally played the odds by placing himself in precarious situations with his footwork.
Venkatesh reached 94 after hitting another six off Meredith in the 14th over. Still, it took him until the 17th to achieve his century as Mumbai’s bowlers restricted both him and Shardul Thakur with three limited overs. When he arrived, he smiled broadly and welcomed the throng.
But he was unable to stay until the very end. An attempted reverse scoop off Meredith in the 18th over led to a simple catch on 104 for a short third.
Ishan’s burst and Rohit’s ‘Impact’
After Mumbai activated their Impact Player, Rohit entered the game as the opener after being forced to sit out due to a “stomach bug.” Umesh Yadav almost caught and bowled him with his first ball. He watched as Kishan battered the bowlers for the Knight Riders for the majority of the powerplay before being caught for 20.
In the second over, KishanpenalisedShardul for 4, 4, and 6 through the off side. He then demonstrated his leg-side play in the third with a four and a six off Umesh. Narine was hit hard for 22 as he came in to bowl the fourth over of the chase, with Kishan going 6, dot, 6, and 4 through slogs. It took him 21 balls to reach fifty.
Then, to go to 58, Kishan hit Varun Chakravarthy for six, but when he attempted to repeat it, he was bowled. But other team members led to an impressive win.
Mumbai Indians 186 for 5 (Kishan 58, Suryakumar 43, Suyash 2-27) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 185 for 6 (Venkatesh 104, Shokeen 2-34) by five wickets