Mumbai Indians (MI) moved to the top of the points table after beating Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by eight wickets in Match 32 of the Dream11 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 at Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Friday.
MI v KKR | IPL 2020 Match 32 Highlights
It took MI 149 runs to win and made their intentions clear at the first ball of the chase when Rohit Sharma met a four-out debutant Chris Green. Cummins conceded nine goals from the second game before Rohit and de Kock conceded three fours in the next round to bring MI to 30/0.
de Kock added two more fours to his record when he faced Cummins in game four. While he had a life in the near future after Varun Chakravarthy couldn’t hold a tough chance and ran backwards from the short leg, de Kock managed to hit two fours. The de Kock-Rohit couple finished the 50-run stand in the final of the power play.
The left-handed man’s merry ways continued as he overtook 16th place from Prasidh Krishna’s second to hit two fours and a six. The left-hander produced his third fifty out of four games in the next game, hitting a four and a six before Russell.
MI switched to 90 after Roht Chakravarthy scored for a six in game ten. However, the MI skipper dropped out in the next game after bringing one to Karthik from Shivam Mavi. MI Suryakumar Yadav lost three overs later after the MI batsman pulled one back onto the stumps of Chakravarthys bowling.
Meanwhile, de Kock turned a four and a six on the 15th before Hardik Pandya hit a four and a six on the 16th. MI ended the game in the next game and sealed a win with 19 balls and eight wickets in hand.
Previously, KKR had won the litter under the new skipper Eoin Morgan and opted for the bat. While KKR made two changes to their XI game, bringing in Chris Green and Shivam in place of Tom Banton and Kamlesh Nagarkoti, MI made a change to their team when Nathan Coulter-Nile replaced James Pattinson.
KKR lost Rahul Tripathi in the third game after Suryakumar Yadav got a stunner to help Trent Boult pick his 50th IPL wicket. After the KKR opener crunched a short ball, Surya didn’t have much time but did a remarkable job of completing the catch.
MI struck for a second power play when Coulter-Nile picked his first wicket for the Rohit Sharma-led unit, dismissing Nitish Rana with a short ball.
Rahul Chahar was introduced to the attack in game eight and he wasted no time trying to make an impact. The leg spinner scalped two wickets in his first over. He had long caught Shubman Gill on the second ball of the over and then on the next delivery Dinesh Karthik’s wicket after the batsman incorrectly set his sweep and saw the ball hit the stumps.
While Andre Russell and Morgan took KKR after fifty, MI brought Jasprit Bumrah back on the attack on the 11th and the right arm pacemaker did justice to the pull when he introduced Russell with a sharp bouncer. After the all-rounder couldn’t control his shot, de Kock did the rest when KKR was reduced to 61/5.
KKR needed a partnership to stop the slide, and skippers Morgan and Pat Cummins delivered.
Cummins faced fellow countryman Coulter-Nile on the 13th, hitting two fours and a six to get KKR over 80. While MI conceded 17 goals in the course of the next three overs, Morgan and Cummins met four each in the 17th KKR raised their hundred.
Cummins then got a life on the next round after de Kock failed to hold onto an opportunity Bumrah had at bowling.
The KKR duo scored 35 runs in the last two overs. Cummins added a four and a six to his account when he faced Boult in the penultimate game. In the 20th century, the Australian put a four on the extra cover to pull off his first IPL half-century. Morgan then toned two sixes in the over when KKR posted 148/5 on the board, with Cummins and Morgan adding 87 of 56 deliveries.
