KKR spinners made a remarkable comeback, limiting MI to 139/8 in 16 overs during their chase of 158 runs at Eden Gardens on Saturday, making the two-time champions the first team to qualify for the playoffs.
The match was reduced to a 16-over contest due to rain interruption earlier in the game.
Chakravarthy emphasized that the wicket offered assistance, which he was able to exploit to his benefit. “The plan was to make him (Rohit) hit across the line, obviously there was help from the wicket and I was able to use it to my advantage. Tactically we (talking about Narine) are similar, but technically we are slightly different. The wickets were too flat initially, my bowling has been the same from the first match and it is just that the results are showing up now,” he stated in the post-match presentation.
In the match, KKR batted first after MI won the toss and chose to field. Despite losing openers Phil Salt and Sunil Narine early, crucial contributions from Venkatesh Iyer (42 off 21 balls), Nitish Rana (33 off 23 balls), Andre Russell (24 off 14 balls), and Rinku Singh (20 off 12 balls) propelled KKR to a total of 157/7 in their allotted 20 overs. Piyush Chawla (2/28) and Jasprit Bumrah (2/39) were MI’s most effective bowlers.
In response, Ishan Kishan (40 off 22 balls) and Rohit Sharma (19 off 24 balls) gave MI a solid 65-run opening partnership. However, KKR quickly tightened their grip on the game and took wickets at regular intervals. Despite the efforts of Tilak Varma (32 off 17 balls) and Naman Dhir (17 off 6 balls), MI fell 18 runs short, finishing at 139/8 in their 20 overs. Varun Chakravarthy (2/17) was KKR’s standout bowler, while Andre Russell and Harshit Rana (2/34) also performed well.
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With nine wins and three losses, KKR sit atop the points table with 18 points. MI, on the other hand, languish at the bottom with four wins and nine losses, accumulating eight points.
(Inputs from ANI)
