Disciplined bowling and astute planning from Kolkata Knight Riders saw them knock over the defending champions Mumbai Indians for 152 in 20 overs in Chennai. Andre Russell picked a five-wicket haul in two overs at the death after Pat Cummins, Shakib Al Hasan and Varun Chakravarthy kept Mumbai’s big hitters in check.
Asked to bat first, Mumbai Indians, still looking for their first points this year, had the experience of Harbhajan Singh to deal with first up along with the mystery spinner Varun Chakravarty.
Both Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock found it tough to get going with the South African being the first to depart when he tried to take Chakravarty down-town, holing out to Rahul Tripathi at deep mid-on for 2.
Rohit was joined by the stylish Suryakumar Yadav, who greeted Harbhajan with three boundaries, off which the drive through the covers to round of the over was exquisite.
KKR bowled five overs of spin in the powerplay, helping keep the duo of Rohit and Suryakumar on a tight leash early on.
Mumbai finished the powerplay with the score at 42/1 after which Prasidh Krishna took a bit of a tonking from Suryakumar, who was hurtling along at good speed, while Rohit kept chipping away at the other end.
Midway through the innings, Suryakumar played what was possibly the best shot of the evening when he picked up Pat Cummins over the leg side and sent it out of the stadium. So good was the hit that it left Hardik Pandya speechless.
Suryakumar however was the next to depart as he looked to attack Shakib’s final over and holed out to Shubman Gill in the deep for 56. Rohit and Suryakumar put on 76 to keep Mumbai in the hunt for a big total.
But the defending champions were dealt a blow soon after as Cummins packed of the dangerous Ishan Kishan for 1, leaving MI at 88/3 in the 12th over as Hardik Pandya joined Rohit in the middle.
Hardik and Rohit attack Prasidh in his second over but were kept quiet by the spinners, building pressure at one end.
With the final phase rolling on, Eoin Morgan turned to Cummins, who responded with the scalp of Rohit Sharma, chopping it onto his stumps for 43 off 32 deliveries.
Off the next over, Hardik greeted Prasidh with a cracking shot over backward point for four before the slower ball got the better off him as Andre Russell completed an easy catch at mid-off.
Hardik was dismissed for 15 with Mumbai at 123/5 in the 17th over, struggling to find any real momentum.
Morgan and KKR though had their own plans as Andre Russell knocked over the dangerous Pollard for 5. One wide later, Russell sent young Marco Jansen packing leaving Mumbai at 126/7.
Krunal Pandya added a quickfire 15 but Russell had him caught at short fine by Prasidh Krishna, before knocking over Jasprit Bumrah.
Trent Boult played out the hat-trick ball before Rahul Chahar became Russell’s fifth wicket.
This was the second time a bowler has taken a five-wicket haul against Mumbai Indians in the IPL after Harshal Patel got the first for RCB. Russell’s figures of 5/15 was instrumental in restricting Mumbai.
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