Kolkata Knight Riders maintained composure to defeat Mumbai Indians by 4 wickets with 7 balls to spare in Kolkata on Wednesday, moving up to sixth place with 13 points.
Despite having won six of their past seven games, they still need to defeat DC in their last league game and hope that PBKS and RR lose their remaining games in order to guarantee a playoff berth.
MI, who have already been eliminated from the playoff race, labored to a meager 147 for 8 when sent in to bat. In the sixth over, MI fell to 41/4. With a 43-run partnership off 49 balls, Hardik Pandya (26) and Tilak Varma (20) attempted to stabilize the situation, but Corbin Bosch’s 18-ball 32 not out brought MI near the 150-mark.
Saurabh Dubey (2/34), Cameron Green (2/23), Kartik Tyagi (2/37), and Sunil Narine (1/13) were the KKR wicket-takers.
In response, Rovman Powell (40) and Manish Pandey (45) combined for 64 runs to keep the KKR run chase on course. The winning runs were hit by Rinku Singh (9).
AM Ghazanfar, Jasprit Bumrah, and Deepak Chahar each grabbed one wicket, while Corbin Bosch (3/30) claimed three.
Earlier, the KKR bowling unit earlier made the most of the slow conditions by choking MI to a meager 147/8.
With Cameron Green (2/23 in three overs) and left-arm bowler Saurabh Dubey (2/34) sharing two wickets apiece up front, KKR reduced MI to 41/4 during the powerplay after choosing to bowl under cloudy skies on a sticky Eden Gardens track that had remained under covers.
Green was outstanding both on the field and with the ball, dismissing Ryan Rickelton (6) and Naman Dhir (0) with two strikes in three deliveries.
Then, just as Rohit Sharma (15) was trying to break free, he took an incredible running catch from midwicket to eliminate the Indian mainstay off Dubey. In the next eight balls, MI lost three wickets for six runs.
Following an hour-long rain break, KKR’s spin pair of injured Varun Chakravarthy and Sunil Narine tightened the screws even more, giving up only 14 runs in their opening four overs while bowling in tandem.
With his turn and erratic bounce, Narine in particular was dangerous. He frequently troubled Tilak Varma before defeating MI captain Hardik Pandya (26; 27b) with a delivery that drifted in and stayed low to crash into the stumps. Narine had amazing figures of 1/13 with 16 dot balls.
After colliding with wicketkeeper Angkrish Raghuvanshi and spilling a return catch, Chakravarthy was unfortunate not to remove Tilak on 12. In the process, Raghuvanshi injured his hand and had to leave the field; Tejasvi Dahiya replaced him.
But Tilak was unable to take advantage of the reprieve, limping to a 32-ball 20 before holing out to Anukul Roy at square leg off Kartik Tyagi on the short 60-meter boundary. Corbin Bosch struck 32 not out from 18 balls with two sixes and three fours as MI finished well, collecting 41 runs in the final three overs after starting at 106/7 in 17 overs.
Green used the new ball to cause the collapse earlier. Dhir fell for a three-ball duck as Green repeatedly beat him outside off before creating an edge, and Rickelton top-edged a short ball to Manish Pandey at point. After the on-field umpire rejected the appeal, the Australian all-rounder was able to persuade Ajinkya Rahane to review.
On the other end, Green made another outstanding catch while rushing across from midwicket after Dubey bowled probing lines and was rewarded when Rohit mishandled an extended pull. In an attempt at a retaliation, Suryakumar Yadav hit Dubey over square leg for a six after hitting Green for consecutive boundaries.
However, Suryakumar was forced to edge onto his stumps for 26 as the left-armer cleverly switched to around the wicket and angled one back in.
