With every passing day, things at the IPL is getting more interesting. Thursday’s match between defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians not only saw superstar Amitabh Bachchan coming and cheering for his home team at the Wankhede stadium. But he also saw the star wish the team based out of his in-laws’ city, Kolkata. The Mumbai Indians, the team which Big B was backing, eventually won the match by five runs.
The atmosphere was electric and so was the performance of the Mumbai Indians. All was not well in the Mumbai innings when lost four wickets at a score of 79 runs in the 12th over. It was a high-octave game and there was immense pressure to build and repair their innings in next eight over. The in-form captain Rohit Sharma was back in the pavilion after for a beauty from Sunil Narine.
However, the Baroda cricketer Hardik Pandya had other plans. He batted like someone with loads of experience. Before he started his innings, their team icon Sachin Tendulkar was heard talking about a score of 175, which would be good enough to put pressure back on Kolkata. Practically, it looked a distant dream then, but in the end, Tendulkar was right. Pandya played a blinder and remained unbeaten on 61 off 31 balls, with eight four and two sixes to bring Mumbai back on track.
Pandya was so overpowering that even an explosive batsman like Kieron Pollard had to play a sublime knock of 33 not out from 38 deliveries. It was their partnership that changed the complexion of the game completely. They had a stand of 92 runs from 8.2 overs for the fifth wicket to take Mumbai’s score to 171.
For KKR, it was only Shakib Al Hasan, who delivered the best spell. By the time, his team came out to chase the target, it was already quite steep. Still, both KKR captain Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa a gave spirited start to their innings. In the middle-order, Yusuf Pathan too played a very crucial knock, but all put together they couldn’t help their team to cross over the winning line. For Mumbai, both Lasith Malinga and Harbhajan Singh were spot on with the ball.
With this defeat, KKR still have one more game like the Mumbai Indians to improve their standing in the points table. A lot will depend on how the Royals Challengers Bangalore play against the Sunrisers on Friday. If Virat Kohli’s team can emerge victorious, it will come down to run-rates and few mathematical calculations to decide the top four teams in the league stages. From what it appears, it’s only CSK, who can be the first team to make it to the play-off.
