Rohit Sharma led from the front as the Mumbai Indians (MI) defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) with 49 runs and scored their first win in the 2020 Dream11 Indian Premier League (IPL) in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
MI v KKR Match 5 IPL 2020
After KKR won the throw and decided to play the first game of the season, Shivam Mavi struck early to dismiss Quinton de Kock in the second game.
But MI skipper Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav countered and took every chance to score. While Suryakumar hit four fours in the third innings, Rohit went after godmother in the fifth and hit him for two sixes.
Rohit and Suryakumar ended the fifty-year partnership and the fifty in the final of the power play. Rohit then hit a four and a six and faced Andre Russell in his first game. Suryakumar then welcomed Kuldeep Yadav into the attack, with a six in his first over when MI topped the 80-run mark at the end of 8 overs.
MI was a touching distance to complete a hundred, but previously they lost Suryakumar for 47 after the right-hander was exhausted during two runs. Rohit then got his 37th IPL fifty into the IPL before MI went over a hundred in the twelfth.
Over on the 14th – Kuldeep’s last of the night – Rohit hit two mighty sixes to complete his 200 sixes in the IPL. Rohit and Saurabh Tiwary, meanwhile, set up a 49-run stand, with the left-handed man scoring 21 in 13 balls before exiting Sunil Narines bowling.
MI brought their 150 past on the 17th before Hardik Pandya opened his shoulders and hit Cummins for two fours and a six.
Rohit then pulled out on the 18th after scoring 80 balls out of 54, hitting 3 fours and 6 sixes when Mavi picked up his second wicket of the game. KKR had a lucky break in the 19th when Hardik von Russells Bowling got off the hit wicket. MI scored 13 runs in the final to bring the run tally to 195/5.
It took KKR 196 runs to win and lost their first wicket in the third run when Trent Boult fired Shubman Gill. While KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik hit a couple of crisp fours, MI got his second wicket when de Kock held a fine flying catch from James Pattinson’s bowling to bring Narine in fifth.
Nitish Rana replaced Narine in the middle, wasting little time making his intentions clear. He hit his third ball for a long six when KKR finished the power play with 33/2.
KKR then scored 13 from the eighth over when Karthik and Rana each hit a four to push their side over fifty. KKR lost their third wicket on the 11th when Rahul held Chahar Karthik 30 minutes from the wickets.
In the next lap, Hardik showed a piece of field brilliance. After Rana got off the air from Pollard’s bowling, Hardik, who was occupying the sweeper deck area, ran to his left, clinging to a fine catch, keeping his composure and balance so as not to touch the rope, and gave MI her fourth wicket.
Morgan was then joined by Russell when KKR, who hit the three-digit mark in the 15th, had to make it big to win the game.
But Bumrah dismissed both batsmen in the 16th over. First he disrupted the wood to end Russell’s stay in the middle, then had Morgan caught behind the gates for 16. Boult then took his second wicket when Nikhil Naik got off for 1.
Cummins then put on a show with the bat, scoring 33 balls out of 12 and hitting Bumrah in the 18th for three sixes. But he was fired by James Pattinson the year before last. Chahar took Mavi by surprise on the last ball of the game when MI sealed a win.
