IPL24: KKR break 12 yr Wankhede jinx to beat MI in a low scoring thriller

 


Dream City Mumbai.  India got the taste of world victory on the soil of this city.  But another name of nightmare for KKR (Kolkata Knight Riders) is Wankhede.  Shah Rukh Khan's team had to return empty-handed from the shores of the Arabian Sea repeatedly.  The last win here against Mumbai Indians came in 2012.  An era has passed since then.  Only failure has accompanied the knights.


 Losing chances were also created today again for KKR.  But in the end Shreyas & Co snatched the victory from the jaws of defeat.  Kolkata won the match by 24 runs.  Along with that, KKR made the road to the playoffs smoother with 14 points in 10 matches.


 Mentor Gautam Gambhir took the opportunity to change history.  The Knights stand way ahead of  Mumbai in the league table.  Shreyas Iyer & Co made the road to the playoffs easier by winning this match.  However, their top-order batting in Friday night's Wankhede flopped.  Phil Salt (5) and Sunil Narine (8) fell cheaply   Except Venkatesh Iyer in the middle , no one could hold the reins with a strong hand.  Angakrish Raghuvanshi (13), Shreyas Iyer (6) returned with few runs. Thushara took 3 top order wickets while the dangerous Narine was bowled by Hardik Pandya. 

  Rinku Singh (9) did not get a chance in the T20 World Cup team.  The debate is still raging.  Knight star did not even get a chance to bat like that in IPL.  On this day, during the danger of the team, he had an opportunity to question the selection of the national team.  But Rinku also failed being caught and bowled by Chawla as the balls were stopping on the slowishpitch .  In the end, Venkatesh Iyer (70) saved the Knights'  prestige with a magnificent innings that included his customary stand and deliver kind of shots including his lethal pull shots  . Manish Pandey (42), a veteran of the Knights, was the only one to give company to V Iyer .  KKR introduced him as an impact player under some pressure.  The two made a big partnership from 5 wickets for 58 runs and took the score to 140/5 .  In the end, the innings of the Knights stopped at 169 runs after losing all the wickets courtesy a stunning late order  collapse of 29/5 orchestrated by the brilliant Jasprit Bumrah who took 3 wickets while clean bowling Venkatesh Iyer and Starc to finish with 3/18  . Thushara also took 3 wickets earlier . 


The task of fighting against Mumbai with this  score was tough enough.  Despite their poor form, they were desperate to win at home.  Hardik & co also has the numbers to reach the playoffs in the books.  But Hardik Pandya once again proved why they are at number nine in the league table.  Mumbai's wicket fell one after another.   Top order fell cheaply .  Ishan Kishan (13), Rohit Sharma (11), Naman Dhir (11) all went back cheaply .   With this dismissal , Rohit was captured by Narine's spin magic ten times. Ishan was bowled leg stump by Starc .  Captain Hardik Pandya's situation is no different as he went cheaply again .  Sunil Narine and Varun Chakraborty's spin web in the middle overs totally slowed down MI's progress . They bowled magnificently with great skillsets . The young guns in the MI middle order , Tilak Verma (4) & Wadhera (6) were dismissed by Varun and Narine respectively 



  Only Suryakumar Yadav tried hard but it was not enough.  Cricket fans of the country will be happy to see him in good form before the World Cup.  But even that did not make Mumbai fans smile.  He returned after scoring  57 runs.  Another person was freed from the curse of poor performance.  He is Mitchell Starc (33/4).  So far there has been much talk about his form.  On this day, he explained why the knights bought him with so much money.  Starc became devastating in the death overs.  Picked up a total of four wickets.  Tim David (24).  Piyush Chawla, Coetzee became his victims. While David and Chawla hit full tosses straight to fielders , Coetzee was bowled by a lethal yorker drawing a huge roar from the mighty fast bowler as the increasingly dangerous Starc finished with 4/33 and being watched by his world cup winning wife Alyssa Healy from the stands  .  Although the turning point of the match can be said to be Surya's exit.  And as soon as Surya went down, darkness fell for Mumbai in the Marine Drive of the playoffs.  In the end Kolkata won by 24 runs with Starc getting 4 wickets , Varun and Narine both picking 2 wickets along with Russell . 


 Venkatesh Iyer was the  player of the match as KKR are a step closer to the playoffs while MI  remain at 9th spot in the points table.  

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