IPL 2018, Match 37, MI v KKR: Mumbai Indians Stays Afloat Courtesy 13-Run Victory

The three-time IPL champions, Mumbai Indians kept their hopes in Vivo IPL 11 after registering a 13-run victory in the 37^th match of the tournament.

In the end, the Mumbai bowlers held their nerves and contained Kolkata quite well. Hardik Pandya was the pick of the Mumbai bowlers bagging 2/19 in his allotted four overs.

Early in the day, the Mumbai Indians posted a competitive 181 on the board in their allotted 20 overs. They were looking set for a total in excess of 190-195. Again Suryakumar Yadav maintained his rich vein of form and scored yet another half-century. Andre Russell was the pick of the Kolkata bowlers bagging 2/12 in a couple of overs.

It was Kolkata Knight Riders skipper, Dinesh Karthik who won the toss and opted to field. Suryakumar Yadav and Evin Lewis began briskly. Suryakumar looked in ominous touch from the outset and struck some gorgeous shots. Evin Lewis, on the other hand, also gained from the shots of Surya and started belting the boundaries.

The duo shared a brilliant 91-run partnership in just 9.2 overs. When Andre Russell dismissed Lewis, he had scored 43 off just 28 deliveries which were studded with five fours and a couple of sixes.

Rohit Sharma came out at the crease and was dismissed pretty early by Sunil Narine. Hardik Pandya was promoted up the order.

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He scored a quickfire 34 off just 20 deliveries which were studded with four fours and a six. The Kolkata bowlers made a terrific comeback in the death overs and restricted the Mumbai batsman brilliantly.

Eventually, Mumbai was at least 20 runs short of what they were expecting at the halfway stage. Russell and Sunil Narine bagged a couple of wickets each. It was a good effort by the Kolkata bowlers to restrict them to a score of 181.

Shubhman Gill got elevated as an opener along with Chris Lynn. The latter struck some delightful shots, to begin with. However, two quick wickets in the form of both openers reduced them to 28/2. While McClenaghan bagged the wicket of Lynn, it was Hardik Pandya who removed Gill.

Robin Uthappa would have perished earlier too when Mayank Markande dropped a sitter. In the end, it didn’t prove costly, but he did make them pay with a fluent half-century.

He smashed a couple of sixes and a four in the 1^st over of Markande to put Kolkata firmly on top. On the other hand, Nitish Rana was also playing a useful hand got out to Pandya as well. The duo stitched together a vital partnership before the wicket of Uthappa. It was eventually Markande who brought about an end to his innings.

Some brilliant bowling by Mumbai, in the end, restricted them to just 168 runs in their allotted 20 overs. The catch of Krunal Pandya to dismiss Andre Russell proved to be the most important moment of the match. It was a brilliant catch and in the end while the bowler was his younger brother, Hardik.

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Brief Scores

Mumbai Indians 181/4 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 59, Evin Lewis 43, Andre Russell 2/12)

Kolkata Knight Riders 168/6 in 20 overs (Robin Uthappa 54, Dinesh Karthik 36, Hardik Pandya 2/19, Mayank Markande 1/25)

Mumbai Indians won by 13 runs