Mumbai pull off a heist

Chahar & Co help holders prevail, Russell five-for goes in vain as Kolkata implode

MUMBAI INDIANS VS KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS

Chennai, India - Rahul Chahar, Krunal Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah pulled a rabbit out of the hat to give defending champions Mumbai Indians their first win in IPL 2021 on Tuesday.

Down and out in their defence of 153, they strung together pressure on a slow surface and then let Kolkata Knight Riders crack.

Win had looked a mere formality for the Knight Riders when openers Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill had walloped 72 in 8.5 overs. Where calmness could've done the job, Knight Riders paid the price for ultra-aggression, collapsing from 104 for two to 122 for five and then seeing Krunal, who finished with 4-0-13-0 and Bumrah string together dots to leave themselves needing 15 off the final over.

Trent Boult then delivered a masterclass, first deceiving Andre Russell with a slower ball and then destroying Pat Cummins' off-stump with a searing yorker to close the game out. Mumbai had extended their dominance over Kolkata, winning ten out of their last 11 games.

KKR’s spin-centric powerplay

The Knight Riders' first five overs were bowled by spinners. After the returning Quinton de Kock fell in the second over, Suryakumar Yadav offset the early loss quickly. He forced Harbhajan Singh to tweak his line by sweeping him from way outside off, so when he went straighter, Yadav brought out his steely wristwork out to whip him over midwicket. Then, Harbhajan teased him by tossing one up outside off, only to be creamed through extra cover. Yadav had three fours in his first five and Mumbai finished the powerplay on 42 for one.

Yadav keeps the tempo up

One of the hallmarks of Yadav's improved game is his ability to take off from get-go, and then being able to sustain it for a considerable period. The effect was that Mumbai played just two dots between overs six and ten. While Rohit Sharma played risk-free cricket in a half-century stand, Yadav went for his shots. Prasidh Krishna, bore the brunt as he was picked for two fours and a six in a 16-run first over.

But the shot of the evening was reserved for Pat Cummins, who was picked over the roof, as Yadav hopped across his stumps to whip one over deep squareleg. It raised a 33-ball fifty. But Kolkata then hit back by dismissing him and Ishan Kishan's in the space of four deliveries to leave Mumbai 88 for three in the 12th.

Russell picks five wickets in 12 balls

The moment the fast bowlers went cross-seam or banged cutters into the deck, the slowness of the pitch became apparent. It told you two things: how well Yadav had batted and that it wasn't going to be easy for a new batsman to come in and get going. Rohit, who hadn't gotten out of second gear, fell after he chopped on to Cummins. Hardik Pandya was out looking to loft Krishna's slower delivery to mid-off, and it turned into a full-blown collapse when Russell dismissed Kieron Pollard and Marco Jansen in the same over.

Russell would take three more in his next over - the last of the innings - to finish with five for 15, his IPL best. Mumbai had gone from 86 for one to 152 all out, that's nine wickets for 66 runs.

Rana, Gill provide blazing start

At times, a middling target can force a batsman to tweak his approach, Rana left nothing to chance. After imperiously square driving the first ball from Boult to the cover-point fence, he advanced down the pitch to deposit a full delivery over extra cover for six. This approach rubbed off on Gill, who then lent a touch of improvisation to take Marco Jansen for three boundaries in the sixth over.

Chahar cracks open the game

Gill soon became victim to his over-aggression as he holed out to long-off a ball after he had clobbered Chahar for a big six. By then, the Knight Riders had wiped out 72 in 8.5 overs. However, one brought not two, but three. While Rahul Tripathi was out to square turn, Morgan dragged one to deep midwicket. Kolkata needed 49 off 43 then, but there was another twist.

Chahar had a fourth when he had Rana stumped off a slider that he pushed through as the batsman advanced. At that point,

Bumrah, Boult close it out in style

Russell certainly wasn't fancying a big hit, but only until he was helped along by a no-ball. The free-hit was whacked to the fence, the shackles were broken and Knight Riders appeared to have recovered. But Bumrah, coming in with 19 needed off 12, delivered an excellent penultimate over, attacking Russell with the short ball into the body and then besting Karthik with his change in pace to leave them with 15 to get in the final over. It proved difficult against Boult's masterclass.