New Delhi: At the halfway stage during the Mumbai innings, a total of 150 would have been an achievement for the visitors considering MI were tottering at 72/2 after the tenth over. But what happened in the next ten overs calls for nothing less than a shoutout. The Mumbai side went berserk and scored 138 runs in the next ten overs, thanks to an explosive 62 off 21 balls from Ishan Kishan and later a breezy 24 off 9 balls from Ben Cutting, to reach a mammoth 210 to thrash KKR by 102 runs at the Eden Gardens. Known to be late bloomers in the history of the IPL, MI transformed late during this match and showed what they are capable off. With this win, Mumbai have collected 10 points but can't afford to lose any game from here on.
MI again proved how good they perform at Eden Gardens, their home away from home. Under-pressure to get off to a flier, KKR did spark early but soon after they went on to lose wickets in bunches, derailing them and taking them out of the game.
While Ishan Kishan's blitzkrieg ensured MI would have ended somewhere around 180-185 but Ben Cutting's quickfire assault in the final over against Piyush Chawla took MI beyond KKR's reach. Cutting's flourish and Krunal Pandya's brilliant finish meant MI scored 58 in the last four overs.
As usual, Suryakumar Yadav did put MI on to a platform with a 38-run knock but MI were not off to a flier. To pose any threat to a batting heavy KKR, they needed at least 180. With two wickets down at the halfway stage, MI dialled Ishan Kishan for help. The Jharkhand wicket-keeper appeared in a devastating mood and launched his onslaught against chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav. He hit him for four sixes in consecutive deliveries to thrash him. Kuldeep ended with forgettable figures of 3-0-43-0.
Kishan reached his 50 in just 17 balls, the second best in the IPL and used his feet really well against Kuldeep. Kishan came in the tenth over when MI were 62/2. His onslaught against both Kuldeep and his innovative approach at the crease against Chawla helped him dominate the bowling. Against seamers, Kishan swirled well to play the pull and drive well.
He employed reverse sweeps, sweeps and pull to a great effect and never committed himself on the front foot early. The slowness of the pitch gave him time to transfer his weight back and used the horizontal flow to find runs.
In the 13th over, he belted Kuldeep for four sixes to reach fifty in style. In the next over, he swept Sunil Narine for a six but couldn't clear the boundary on his next attempt. Where MI could have struggled to reach 160, Kishan provided MI the launchpad to sail beyond 200.
Kishan had done his bit and it was expected from the lower middle order to blast at the death. Cutting obliged deftly with some lusty hitting in the end. He targeted Piyush Chawla and scored two sixes and a four in the last over before getting out to him as well. Krunal Pandya then finished the innings with a six clattering Chawla at mid-wicket.
For KKR, only Sunil Narine conceded under seven an over. Chawla, who started exceptionally well, picking two wickets, conceded 36 in his next two overs to return with figures of 4-0-48-3.
The score of 210 had more or less sealed KKR's fate as they had to target at least 90-100 in the first ten overs. But their poor approach cost them the game as they folded at a meager 108. Pandya brothers combined well in bowling and picked two wickets each.
