Mumbai Indians picks up an easy 8 wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in the 32nd match of 2020 IPL. Quinton de Kock’s unbeaten 78 runs of 44 balls helped Mumbai Indians to chase down the target of 149 in 16.5 overs.
There was a drama in Kolkata’s dugout just hours before the Match, Skipper Dinesh Karthik stepped down from his captaincy, Eoin Morgan took over the charge before winning the toss in his first match as a KKR skipper, the English man opted to bat first against mighty Mumbai Bowling attack.
Australian Nathan Mitchell Coulter-Nile replaced fellow countryman James Pattinson in Mumbai’s starting XI. Knight Riders off to a bad start and they were 61/5 at 10.4 overs before captain Morgan and all-rounder Pat Cummins steady the innings with unbeaten 87 runs partnership for 6th wicket to put a meaningful total of 148/5 on the board.
Trent Boult dismissed Tripathi (7 runs of 9 balls) early before Coulter-Nile claims Nitish Rana (5 runs of 6 balls). Young Leg Spinner Rahul Chahar dismissed in-form batsman Shubman Gill (21 runs from 23 balls) and Dinesh Karthik (4 of 8 balls) in consecutive deliveries. Jasprith Bumrah dismissed dangerous Andre Russell (12 runs from 9) with fiery bouncer into his chest.
Rahul Chahar was most economical bowler of the night, he conceded just 18 runs in his 4 overs and claimed two crucial wickets. Bumrah once again impressive with 4-0-23-1 bowling stat line.
Mumbai Indians openers Rohit Sharma (35 runs from 36) & Quinton de Kock didn’t waste anytime to chase down the target. The Pair’s 94 runs opening partnership in10.3 overs put an end to Kolkata’s slight chance of making this game tough for defending champions.
After dismissal of Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav (10 runs in 10 balls), de kock’s unbeaten 78 runs in 44 balls and Hardik Pandya’s unbeaten 21 runs of 11 balls ended the game by sparing 19 balls.
Tonight’s comfortable win puts Mumbai Indians on top of the table with 12 points in 8 matches played. Kolkata currently holds 4th place with 8 points in 8 games.
Post-Match comments :
Quinton de Kock, Man of the Match:
“Those leg-side shots are just one of the shots I have in my armoury. I don’t plan to do that, it is just natural. It is just about keeping my balance and playing them as I see them. Last game I was disappointed I didn’t finish the game. Mahela had a couple of words with us. So I had to rectify that. Mahela can come hard at you if you do something ordinary. Ja to be honest I have played this game enough to know you can’t do anything about it if you drop one. You have to carry on and do the best for your team. I am a better keeper than that, and don’t drop catches on purpose so that is nothing to worry about.”
Rohit Sharma, Mumbai Indians Captain:
“It is special to win as comprehensively as this when chasing. It gives us confidence. I guess now teams batting second will win most of the games. That’s what I feel. The trend is changing. It is always a challenge when you have won four in four. How you turn up is what matters. We turned up really well, and right from ball one we were in their faces. I am a big fan of match-ups. read them well, and decide whom to exploit when. Having said that, you have to read the pitch and be instinctive too. I still bowled Rahul and Krunal to Russell because the pitch was holding up a little bit. Then I brought on Bumrah. I enjoy batting with Quinton. He is straightforward. Most of the times I take the back seat. I have a role to play in the squad. I need to let Quinny bat free and not worry about what the team needs from him.”
Eoin Morgan, KKR Captain:
“We weren’t even at the races today. We got a score to bowl at in the end, but the way Mumbai got off, it is tough to stop them. Nos 4, 5 and 6 is a lot of our experience [when asked the thought process around sending Karthik ahead of himself]. Given the match-ups, we are trying to play our best hand there. Today it didn’t make that much of a difference; we were all in early.”
