In the 14th match of the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated Mumbai Indians (MI) by five wickets at the MCA stadium in Pune.
After winning the toss, Shreyas Iyer chose to bowl first despite knowing that the two games which were played at Pune were won by the team batting first. Rohit Sharma also mentioned that he wanted to bat first for the same reason. At first, Mumbai Indians batsmen struggled in the powerplay as both the openers, Rohit Sharma (3) and Ishan Kishan (14) had struck at less than 100 S/R. It was Dewald Brewis (29) who bought MI back into the competition with his brave hitting. Furthermore, the man making his comeback into the tournament, Suryakumar Yadav (52) scored a magnificent fifty with five 4’s and two 6’s. Along with him, it was Tilak Verma (38*) who helped MI get to a respectable score. In the end, it was Kieron Pollard who smashed 22 off 5 deliveries to take Mumbai Indians to 161/4.
In the chase, once again the powerplay overs turned out to be difficult for batsmen as both the openers started slow. KKR eventually lost Ajinkya Rahane in the fifth over. Venkatesh Iyer (50) played an anchor’s knock and made sure that at least one batter stays at the crease throughout the inning. It was getting difficult and almost impossible for KKR to win this contest as they were losing wickets like a crumbling cookie. Captain Iyer (10) also started off well but unfortunately fell for Daniel Sams. Sam Billings and Nitish Rana also didn’t work well on this track and got out quickly. Inform Andre Russell was looking dangerous once again with one 6 and one 4 to his name but again got tricked by Tymal Mills in the 14th over. Finally, Pat Cummins arrived at the crease with just one intent and I think the headline gives away the rest. The Australian captain hammered bowlers all around the park as he scored 56* off just 15 balls at a strike rate of 373.33. He equals the record of fastest 50 now with KL Rahul. In the end, the Pat-show won the game for KKR in just 16 overs.
Umesh Yadav was once again amazing in the powerplay as he picked Rohit Sharma. Cummins also scalped a brace. Along with them, Varun Chakravarthy got one wicket too.
For MI, it was Murugan Ashwin and Tymal Mills who got two wickets and Sams plucked one in the process as well.
The Knight Riders won the game comfortably in the end, thanks to Pat Cummins, and now sit at the top of the table with six points. Pat Cummins won the Man of the Match award for his scintillating historic knock.
Scorecard:
Mumbai Indians: 161/4, Overs 20, Suryakumar Yadav 52, Pat Cummins 2/49
Kolkata Knight Riders: 162/5, Overs 16, Pat Cummins 56*, Murugan Ashwin 2/25