Kolkata Knight Riders’ journey in Vivo Indian Premier League 2019 came to an end after a 9-wicket loss to Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
In a must win game for KKR, Mumbai Indians' Skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and asked the visitors to bat first. DK made one change to the playing eleven. Prasidh Krishna came in for Piyush Chawla. MI went with two changes. Ishan Kishan and Mitchell McClenaghan replaced Barinder Sran and Evin Lewis.
KKR had a decent start with Chris Lynn and Shubman Gill at the top order. Both added 49 runs in powerplay. Gill (9) got out on the first ball after powerplay as Hardik Pandya gave MI the first wicket.
The scoring rate took a hit after Chris Lynn’s (41) dismissal. The pressure got the better of Dinesh Karthik (3) as he became Malinga's first victim. It wasn't a night that Andre Russell would like to remember. The Jamaican followed DK in the same over for a first-ball duck.
Robin Uthappa (40) and Nitish Rana (26) hit a few good strokes but could only take KKR to 133 for 7 after 20 overs.
The home side also had a similar start during the chase. QDK and Rohit Sharma added 46 runs in powerplay. Prasidh Krishna gave KKR the first breakthrough right after powerplay by dismissing de Kock for 30.
Rohit Sharma (55*) and Suryakumar Yadav (46*) played sensible knocks and took MI till the end. In the end, the home sure chased the total in 16.1 overs with 9 wickets in hand to top the IPL 2019 table.
KKR were off to a flying start this season, winning four out of the first five matches. Things didn't go as we would have liked in the next six and we lost track during the mid-phase of the tournament.
KKR will come back stronger next year. For now we wish the top four teams all the best for the playoffs.
Brief Scores:
KKR: 133 for 7 in 20 overs (Lynn 41, Uthappa 40, Malinga 3/35)
MI: 134 for 1 in 16.1 overs (Sharma 55, Yadav 46, Krishna 1/22)
