In their final match at the Wankhede Stadium in VIVO IPL 2016, the Mumbai Indians gave their fans reason to celebrate after they defeated the Kolkata Knight Riders by 6 wickets. After restricting the visitors to 174-5, the hosts – powered by captain Rohit Sharma’s unbeaten 68 and a blitz by Kieron Pollard – gunned down the runs in 18 overs, and as a result climbed to third in the standings.
Needing 175, Rohit Sharma put away the second ball he faced into the stands at square leg. Though Parthiv Patel was dismissed at the start of the second over, steering a ball to slip, the home team continued to call the shots through Rohit and Ambati Rayudu. The latter hit Shakib-al-Hasan for a four and a six off consecutive deliveries, while the MI captain hit Umesh Yadav for consecutive boundaries in the fourth over.
The duo made merry in the sixth over, bowled by Jaydev Unadkat, as 19 runs were added to the MI total. Thanks to the aggressive intent displayed by both batsmen, MI were at 64 for 1 when the field restrictions were eased. Rayudu perished in the seventh over when he holed out to midwicket, but his 59-run partnership with his captain had put MI on course.
Rohit brought up his half-century in the twelfth over – getting there off 36 balls. Though the home side lost Krunal Pandya and Jos Buttler cheaply, Rohit, and Kieron Pollard – playing his 100th IPL match – did not give the bowling side a sniff of a chance. After coming in to bat in the 14th over, Pollard annihilated the KKR attack, scoring the fastest by a Mumbai Indians batsman in the IPL.
Pollard completed the job in style, hitting his sixth six of the night, and took MI past the finish line off the last ball of the 18th over; the Trinidadian remained unbeaten on 51 (17 balls, 2 fours, 6 sixes). Rohit, who had starred in MI’s win against KKR earlier in the season, remained unbeaten on 68 (49 balls, 8 fours, 2 sixes). This was the MI skipper’s fourth half-century in four run-chases this season.
Sunil Narine was yet again the best among the KKR bowlers; he finished with figures of 2 for 22 from his four overs. Shakib-al-Hasan was impressive too; despite having to contend with dew, the left-arm spinner finished with respectable figures of 1-30 from his four overs. Umesh Yadav (1-19) was the only other wicket-taker for the visitors.
Earlier in the evening, after being put in to bat, the Knight Riders were off to a rapid start with both Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa picking up boundaries early on. The pair brought up the 50 of the partnership – the fourth such partnership in six innings this season – in the sixth over. KKR finished the Powerplay overs at 59 for no loss.
The KKR opening pair was separated in the eighth over with the score at 69 when Uthappa (36 from 20 balls) hit a low full toss from Harbhajan Singh straight down the throat of Pollard at long on. KKR were reduced to 77-2 in the ninth over when one-drop batsman Shakib-al-Hasan edged a short delivery from Hardik Pandya into the gloves of Parthiv Patel.
Gambhir hit Krunal Pandya for a six and a four in the thirteenth over to bring up his half-century; he needed 39 balls to get to the milestone. The KKR captain perished in the following over when he attempted to pull a short delivery from Mitchell McClenaghan, but was cramped for room and ended up skying a catch to Pollard; the southpaw made 59 from 45 balls and he was dismissed with the score reading 121-3.
With new men at the crease, MI used the opportunity to tighten the screws. KKR only managed to add 53 runs in the remaining 6.1 overs to eventually finish at 174-5. Andre Russell (22 from 16 balls) and Yusuf Pathan (19* from 8 balls) were the important contributors in the final stages of the innings.
Tim Southee was the most successful of the home side’s bowlers; he returned with 2-38 from his four overs, while Mitchell McClenaghan (1-33), Harbhajan Singh (1-32) and Hardik Pandya (1-15) were the other wicket-takers. MI had a mixed day on the field; while there were several good saves, there were other occasions when they were sloppy. McClenaghan put down a regulation catch when Gambhir was on 8, Parthiv Patel missed the opportunity to stump Uthappa and Southee dropped two catches in the 19th over.
Brief Scores
Kolkata Knight Riders 174-5 in 20.0 Overs (Robin Uthappa 36, Gautam Gambhir 59, Tim Southee 2-38)
Mumbai Indians 178-4 in 18.0 Overs (Rohit Sharma 68*, Kieron Pollard 51*, Sunil Narine 2-22) by 6 wickets
Man of the Match: Rohit Sharma, for his unbeaten 68.
