Venkatesh, Starc star as KKR break 12-year Wankhede jinx

Kolkata Knight Riders 169 (Venkatesh 70, Pandey 42, Bumrah 3-18) beat Mumbai Indians 145 (Suryakumar 56, Starc 4-33) by 24 runs

Kolkata Knight Riders further embedded themselves near the top of the IPL table, and Mumbai Indians’ hopes of qualifying for the final four took another big hit.

How MI managed to lose a match in which they took five KKR wickets in the first 37 legal deliveries, will require some examination from the franchise brains trust. But essentially, MI didn’t go for the kill when they had KKR on the ropes at 43 for 4, then 57 for 5. And although MI closed the innings nicely through Bumrah, their having allowed KKR to recover through an 83-run stand between Venkatesh Iyer and Manish Pandey, would haunt them in the end.

Their own top order was shambolic, as has been the case through the season. But still, thanks to a good innings from Suryakumar Yadav, MI were still in with hope into the death. Mitchell Starc put paid to those hopes, however, and MI were all out for 145 in the 19th over.

Starc locks it down

Despite their faltering start, MI still only needed 51 runs off the last five overs, with Suryakumar at the crease on 56. Andre Russel bowled the 16th over, and Suryakumar will feel he should have done better with the knee-high full toss he got second ball. Instead of launching it into the legside stands, he got a huge top edge that flew towards fine leg, with wicketkeeper Phil Salt able to chase it down and take it comfortably in his gloves.

It was Starc who really ended MI’s chances though. He bowled a spectacular 17th over in which he conceded only three runs. And when MI needed 32 off the last two overs, he did concede a six off first ball of the 19th, but had Tim David caught at long on next ball, had Piyush Chawla chip one to extra cover immediately after, then wiped out the innings with a yorker that took out Gerald Coetzee’s middle stump.

After a rough start to the IPL, Starc came back in this match with figures of 4 for 33, having also dismissed Ishan Kishan with the new ball.

Venkatesh Iyer digs KKR out of a hole

Before Starc could work his magic with the ball, KKR needed something to defend. And Venkatesh’s 70 off 52 was the spine of KKR’s innings. He was quick early on, hitting two fours off his first four balls, before settling down a little while wickets fell at the other end. But to KKR’s great credit, their run rate did not slow substantially despite the dismissals. They were 51 for 4 after five overs, 83 for 5 after 10, and got to triple figures in the 12th over of the innings.

This was in large part thanks to Venkatesh, and to Pandey, who kept seeking out boundary opportunities instead of settling too deep into accumulation mode. Pandey was out for 42 off 31 in the 17th over, but Iyer stayed till the 20th, and was the last to be out off the penultimate ball. Of his three sixes, the back away and crash over long off, off the bowling of Hardik Pandya, was the most memorable.

Bumrah almost unplayable

Though MI continue to stink up the IPL, Bumrah is their unerring talisman, today finishing with figures of 3 for 18 off 3.5 overs. In his first over he conceded just two runs, but Hardik did not bring his best bowler back even when KKR were struggling in the first seven overs.

Bumrah then had one modest middle-overs over, in which Pandey hit him for a six and a four.

But at the death, he was exemplary, taking two wickets and conceding just two runs off the 18th over, before hemming Venkatesh in and getting him out off the fifth ball of the last over – the batter having tried to scoop him over the shoulder, only to miss and to have his middle stump knocked out of the ground. He had scored just two runs off the previous four deliveries.

Bumrah keeps the purple cap, though MI’s chances of making the playoffs grow remote.