IPL 2021: KKR vs MI Review – Mumbai bowlers steal thriller as Kolkata choke in death overs

With 31 runs needed off the last 5 overs and 6 wickets in hand, it was Kolkata Knight Riders’ game to lose. Especially, with two of their best finishers – Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell still at the crease. But in one of the most unbelievable comebacks in history, the Mumbai Indians snatched victory from the jaws of defeat on Tuesday night, applying the ultimate run-choke on their bogey team.

KKR’s perfect strategy

KKR captain Eoin Morgan won the toss and elected to field first. After starting with spin from both ends, Kolkata managed to keep the MI batsmen quiet for the most part. Quinton de Kock, playing his first game, fell to Varun Chakravarthy while Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma got together in a good second-wicket partnership.

Rohit scored 43 while Surya smashed a sizzling 56 but it was Mumbai’s middle order that once again failed to deliver when needed. Kolkata, with their standout strategy, kept picking wickets at regular intervals and bowled out Mumbai for 152. Andre Russell finished with 5/15 – his personal as well KKR’s best bowling figures against the Mumbai Indians.

The almost perfect chase

Kolkata started off their chase quite well with Shubman Gill and Nitish Rana putting on a 72-run first wicket stand. An in-form Rana notched up his second consecutive fifty, but was eventually dismissed for 57. And suddenly, KKR went on a massive collapse spree, losing their middle order cheaply with back-to-back wickets of Morgan and Shakib Al Hasan.

Still, it looked like an easy win for Kolkata with Russell at the crease. The West Indian was reprieved twice – both times off Krunal Pandya’s bowling. However, Kolkata failed to chase down 31 runs off the last five overs, scoring just 20 runs and losing 3 wickets in the process. Rahul Chahar was the pick of the bowlers ending with career-best figures of 4/27. Trent Boult and Jasprit Bumrah kept the lid on the runs in the death overs to seal a thrilling 10-run win for Mumbai.

Turning Points

Rahul Chahar’s spell: KKR were going quite strong with Gill and Rana batting in a controlled manner. But the ploy to attack Chahar backfired and he ended up taking the first four wickets of KKR. His wickets slightly shifted the momentum in Mumbai’s favour and kept them in the hunt.

Bumrah’s 19th over: With 19 runs needed off the last two overs, Bumrah the death-over specialist was given the ball and he delivered to the tee, giving just four runs off the penultimate over. With 15 runs needed off the last over, Mumbai were going to be too good for KKR and that is exactly how it turned out.

Gotta love games that come alive at the death! ? pic.twitter.com/fk3dIQQEE5

— Jasprit Bumrah (@Jaspritbumrah93) April 13, 2021

Personal records/Achievements

• This was KKR’s 12th loss against MI in the last 13 IPL games
• Andre Russell claimed his first five-for in IPL

Way ahead

Kolkata will next face Bangalore on April 18. Mumbai will take on SRH on April 17. Both matches will be played in Chennai.