Mumbai, Mar 31 (UNI) Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) endured a disastrous outing with the bat as they were bowled out for a paltry 116 in 16.2 overs against Mumbai Indians (MI) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at Wankhede Stadium here on Monday.
Putting the rivals to bat after winning the toss, MI bowlers maintained relentless pressure on the KKR batting order. Deepak Chahar (2/19) struck early, dismissing Quinton de Kock (1) and Venkatesh Iyer (3), while Trent Boult (1/23) sent Sunil Narine back for a duck. Ashwani Kumar emerged as the pick of the bowlers, claiming 4/41, dismantling the middle order with crucial wickets of Ajinkya Rahane (11), Rinku Singh (17), Manish Pandey (19), and Andre Russell (5).
Despite a promising knock from young Angkrish Raghuvanshi (26 off 16), KKR kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Ramandeep Singh (22) tried to salvage some runs lower down the order, but the visitors failed to gain any momentum. Hardik Pandya (1/10) and Mitchell Santner (1/17) also chipped in with wickets to restrict KKR.
There were a few moments of resistance as Manish Pandey (19) played a crisp shot down the ground for four off Ashwani Kumar in the 10th over. Rinku Singh, too, showcased aggression, cutting a short delivery from Ashwani over extra cover for a boundary in the same over. Rinku Singh also managed to clear long-off for a six against Vignesh Puthur in the 8th over, while Manish Pandey pulled the bowler for another maximum in the 7th over to bring up KKR’s 50.
However, KKR's batting collapse overshadowed these glimpses of brilliance. The wickets tumbled rapidly: 1-1 (Narine, 0.4), 2-2 (de Kock, 1.1), 25-3 (Rahane, 3.1), 41-4 (Venkatesh Iyer, 5.4), 45-5 (Raghuvanshi, 6.6), 74-6 (Rinku Singh, 10.3), 80-7 (Pandey, 10.6), 88-8 (Russell, 12.4), 99-9 (Harshit Rana, 14.3), and 116-10 (Ramandeep Singh, 16.2).
Ashwani Kumar’s debut for MI proved pivotal, though he had an off day in the field, dropping a catch at short third off Venkatesh Iyer and another off Ramandeep Singh in the deep. Nonetheless, his four-wicket haul, including a crucial delivery that uprooted Russell’s middle and off stumps, stood out as a game-changing moment.
A brief moment of tension emerged when Russell was given out leg-before to Santner, but a DRS review showed the ball going over the stumps, overturning the decision.
With a modest target of 117 to chase, MI will be confident of securing their second win in the tournament. UNI BDN SSP