IPL 2018: Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana Didn't Play Great Shots There - Dinesh Karthik

For the seven consecutive game, Kolkata Knight Riders failed to go past the Mumbai Indians’ hurdle.

Skipper Dinesh Karthik was very much there at the crease, but he couldn’t seal a victory for his side this time around in Mumbai.

On a belter of a pitch, Surya Kumar Yadav and Evin Lewis started the show for Mumbai. Surya continued his good form and hit seven fours and a couple of sixes to get to 59 off 39 balls. His partner from Windies smashed five fours and two big hits to make 28-ball 43.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya did just enough to take the innings to a solid total. An unbeaten 35 off 20 balls saw Mumbai get to 181/4 in their 20 overs.

For Kolkata, Sunil Narine scalped two wickets. Chasing a stiff total of 182, KKR lost the openers early; youngster Shubman Gill was promoted up the order after his brilliance in the last game.

But he failed to set the tempo. Chris Lynn was dismissed for 17 while Gill made seven.

A responsible 54 off 35 balls from Robin Uthappa made things a little easy for the Knights, but it wasn’t enough. Nitish Rana and Karthik contributed with 31 and 36, respectively but some brilliant efforts in the field from Mumbai, barring a few dropped chances sealed it in style.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya scalped two wickets with the ball and his brother Krunal Pandya’s spectacular catch in the outfield drastically turned the table. In the post-match presentation, Karthik had some explanations to do. On the turning point, he said,

“The way Robin Uthappa and Nitish Rana were batting, I would’ve been happy if one of them would’ve batted through. They didn’t play great shots there, that kind of killed the momentum. Many were surprised not to see Narine open the innings; the skipper said the all-rounder wasn’t felt well, and therefore Gill was promoted. “He wasn’t feeling that well. That’s why he couldn’t come out to bat.” Karthik said.