Kolkata Knight Riders 220 for 4 (Rahane 67, Raghuvanshi 51, Thakur 3-39) vs Mumbai Indians
Despite the tall total, MI would feel they have done well, particularly after KKR had amassed 78 in the powerplay and reached 100 in 7.5 overs. Golden-arm Shardul Thakur, on MI debut, picked up three wickets while Jasprit Bumrah did Jasprit Bumrah things, conceding just 35 runs in his four overs.
KKR gave Finn Allen a debut ahead of Tim Seifert and the decision was vindicated with the opener smashing 37 off 17. After facing five dot balls against Hardik, Allen caught hold of another debutant AM Ghazanfar, taking him for two sixes and a four. Rahane then took on Hardik Pandya, smashing him for back-to-back sixes before Allen went 4, 4, 4 taking 26 runs off Hardik’s second over.
Having played plenty of cricket at the Wankhede Stadium, his domestic home ground, Thakur brought his experience into play and struck with his second ball. It was a slower 117kph length ball outside off that Allen could shovel as far as long-on.
Cameron Green smashed Mayank Markande for a massive six but became Thakur’s second victim. Rahane, however, continued on his merry way, bringing up his fifty off 27 balls. But even his knock was cut short by Thakur, who struck for a third time when Rahane mistimed a cross-seam length ball to Hardik at extra cover.
That wicket came in the middle of MI stringing a few good overs. Raghuvanshi started slowly but once he was dropped at long-on by Rohit Sharma, his innings found a new lease of life. He added 60 runs off 30 balls with Rinku Singh, who finished unbeaten on 33 off 21 balls. Raghuvanshi fell in the 19th over, right after reaching his fifty off 28 balls, but KKR had breached the 200 mark by then. This is the second-highest total for KKR against MI in the IPL.
