IPL 2021: MI vs KKR Review – Iyer, Tripathi star as Kolkata cruise to 7-wicket win

Kolkata Knight Riders finally registered a long overdue win against Mumbai Indians in the IPL on Thursday in Abu Dhabi. This was Kolkata’s only seventh win against Mumbai in the league.

KKR won the toss and decided to elect to bowl first. Although the Powerplay went Mumbai’s way, Kolkata bounced back with a tremendous bowling display. Mumbai managed to get only 155 runs on the board, which Kolkata chased down with 29 balls and 7 wickets to spare.

Rohit-QDK get off to a flyer

Earlier in the evening, Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock started Mumbai’s innings with a bang. After the powerplay, Mumbai were 56/0. The opening stand was going well until Rohit fell for 33. De Kock continued to strike but ended up succumbing to KKR’s pressure. With not a lot of firepower towards the end, Mumbai ended with a rather paltry score by their own standards.

Iyer, the star

KKR seemed to be batting on a different surface when they came out to bat in the 2nd innings. In the first three overs, Shubman Gill got them off to a good start with newbie Venkatesh Iyer, putting on 40-run opening stand. Once Gill was dismissed, Iyer formed a match-winning partnership with Rahul Tripathi. The duo kept the run rate above 10 for most of the innings. Iyer was finally dismissed after scoring his maiden IPL fifty but by then, KKR had already gotten over the line. Tripathi kept attacking in search of boundaries during his valuable knock of 74 runs. He managed to stay unbeaten, overseeing KKR to their 2nd consecutive win.

Top performers

Venkatesh Iyer: It was only his second IPL match but Iyer had all the shots in his book, taking on world-class bowlers like Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult. Along with Gill, he ensured KKR got the solid start it needed to lay the foundation for a smooth chase.

Rahul Tripathi: The right-hander came in at No. 3 and was instantly in the mood to get going. The way he played made sure KKR’s run rate didn’t fall below 10. Tripathi slammed 8 fours and 3 sixes during his unbeaten knock. Boundaries kept coming from time to time and he never let Mumbai settle down.

Personal achievements/records

• Venkatesh Iyer’s 25-ball fifty is the fastest for KKR against MI in all IPL seasons
• Rohit Sharma became the first-ever batsman to score 1000 IPL runs against a single opponent

Kolkata will now face Chennai on September 26 while Mumbai’s next game is against Bangalore on the same day.