Mumbai, April 16 (IANS) Ishan Kishan hammered a half-century and Suryakumar Yadav roared back to form to negate a brilliant century by Venkatesh Iyer and help Mumbai Indians defeat Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets and register their second win of the season in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, here on Sunday.
It was the first afternoon match for Mumbai Indians at Fortress Wankhede and the hosts made the most of this opportunity to romp to their second win in four matches.
Though Venkatesh Iyer struck a brilliant 104 off 51 deliveries, Mumbai Indians did not allow their other batters to prosper and thus restricted them to 185/6 in 20 overs. Hrithik Shokeen claimed 2-34 while Piyush Chawla was at his economical best for 1-19 in four overs as Mumbai Indians came up with a clinical performance.
Ishan Kishan then hammered 58 off 25 balls, hitting five boundaries and as many sixes while Suryakumar smacked a 43 in a match in which he captained as Rohit Sharma missed the KKR innings because of a stomach bug but came in as an Impact Player to bat. Tilak Varma scored 30 off 25 balls as Mumbai Indians reached 186/5 to win the match with 14 balls remaining.
Mumbai Indians also used the rules to perfection as they shielded skipper Rohit Sharma, who was hit by a stomach bug, and brought him as an Impact Player while giving debuts to Duan Jansen and Arjun Tendulkar (0-17 off 2).
Mumbai made a brilliant start as they raised 72/1 in the Power-play as they set about in hot pursuit of the target of 186 runs.
Ishan Kishan started the carnage for Mumbai Indians by bashing Shardul Thhakur for two fours and a six in the last three balls of the second over, creaming through covers, cutting over point, and a flat-hit over covers as Mumbai made a blazing start. The second over cost KKR 16 runs.
Rohit Sharma, who nearly offered a catch back to Umesh Yadav off the first ball he faced, heaved Umesh Yadav over extra cover for a six, and Ishan bashed a four and a six off successive deliveries as Mumbai scored 17 runs from the third over.
KKR skipper Nitish Rana introduced Sunil Narine but the run flow continued as his first over cost 22 runs, Rohit Sharma started the run collection with a four off the first delivery, and after a wide down leg side, Ishan hammered him for two sixes, and a four. That was some power-hitting by the Mumbai Indians openers as Rohit Sharma greeted Suyash Sharma’s introduction with a sweep over deep square for maximum.
Suyash had the last laugh as he got Rohit Sharma to offer a leading edge and Umesh Yadav completed a superb catch, running to his left and leaping to pouch it with both hands.
Ishan Kishan went on to complete his half-century off 21 balls with an edged four off Suyash Sharma, hitting five boundaries and four maximums in all. He struck another six off Varun Chakravarthy in the eighth over but was bowled off the next delivery, going for a slog sweep, edging the ball into his pads and then onto his stumps. He scored 58 off 25 balls and Mumbai lost their second wicket with 87 runs on the board.
Suryakumar Yadav announced his return to form with back-to-back sixes off Lockie Ferguson, a fine pick-up over fine-leg, and a flick over midwicket in next-up. Varma pulled Varun Chakravarthy for a four in the next over as Mumbai Indians reached 130/2 in 12 overs. They completed the fifty off their partnership in 30 (3×4, 1×6).
Though Varma was out for 30 off 25 balls (3×4, 1×6), chopping onto his stumps off Suyash Sharma, SKY continued to grow strong, hitting Andre Russell for a six and a four off successive deliveries and Tim David drove Varun over long-on for a six as Mumbai crossed the 150-run mark in the 15th over.
Suryakumar, who survived a DRS review off Sunil Narine in the 16th over, responded by whipping the West Indies spinner for a four between deep midwicket and long-on as Mumbai went into the Strategic Timeout at 171/3, needing 15 runs off 24 balls.
Suryakumar Yadav got out soon after the resumption of play, edging behind a ramp-shot off Shardul Thakur — ending up with 43 off 25 balls in a welcome return to form that would come as a big boost for Mumbai Indians. Nehal Wadhera struck Lockie Ferguson for four but was out the next ball, edging behind but that was too late to make much impact for KKR. Suyash Sharma, who substituted Venkatesh Iyer as Impact Player, was the best KKR bowler in action, finishing with 2-27 off his four overs.
Earlier, KKR reached 57/2 at the end of the Power-play after being inserted in by Suryakumar Yadav, leading the side in the absence of regular skipper Rohit Sharma who was not included in the Playing XI because of a stomach bug.
KKR lost opener N Jagadeesan early, Hrithik Shokeen picking up a brilliant catch diving forward as he drove on the up against Cameron Green and Rahmanullah Gurbaz (8) too did not last long. Shokeen struck another blow to KKR’s hopes, sending back their skipper Nitish Rana for five, KKR were 73/3 with Iyer their lone warrior.
Venkatesh Iyer, meanwhile, kept going from the other end as if he was playing another match. He slashed Green hard over slips for a six in the 4th over and struck a streaky boundary two balls later. The KKR batter struck Jansen for two sixes in the fifth over and bashed Shokeen for two boundaries in the seventh over, getting to his half-century off 23 balls when an inside edge off Shokeen went to the boundary in the ninth over and then celebrated that by slog sweeping Shokeen for a six over midwicket.
As KKR crossed the midway stage, Iyer pulled Riley Meredith for back-to-back sixes in the 11th over, the second one a sweetly-timed pull over backward square leg.
The 28-year-old batter, who was dropped by Tilak Varma at deep cover off Shokeen, reached the 90s with a six off Meredith and completed his century off 49 balls, hitting five fours and nine sixes in the process. He celebrated his first century in IPL with a streaky four off Meredith but the bowler had the last laugh off the next delivery Jansen caught him at short third-man, playing a reverse scoop — his superb innings ending at 104.
Andre Russell hammered back-to-back six and four off Duan Jansen and remained unbeaten on 21 as KKR reached a total worth bowling at.
For Mumbai Indians, Hrithik Shoteen claimed 2-34 off his four overs while veteran Piyush Chawla finished with the most economical figures of 1-19 off his four overs.
Brief scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders 185/6 in 20 overs (Venkatesh Iyer 104, Andre Russell 21 not out; Hrithik Shokeen 2-34, Piyush Chawla 1-19) lost to Mumbai Indians 186/5 in 17.4 overs (Ishan Kishan 58, Suryakumar Yadav 43, Tilak Varma 30; Sjuyash Sharma 2-27) by 5 wickets.
–IANS
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