Venkatesh Iyer, Tripathi help KKR break MI jinx

Abu Dhabi :  Rahul Tripathi and Venkatesh Iyer played knocks of 74 and 53 respectively as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated Mumbai Indians by seven wickets in an Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter here at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Thursday.

With this win, KKR has risen to the fourth spot in the points table while Mumbai Indians has slipped to the fifth position. Before entering this match, KKR had a dismal record against MI, registering just six wins in a total of 28 games, but Iyer and Tripathi helped the franchise turn around their fortunes.

Chasing 156, KKR got off to a flying start as Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer put on 40 runs inside three overs. However, the opening stand was cut short as Jasprit Bumrah bowled Gill (13) in the third over of the innings. At the end of the powerplay, KKR’s score read 63/1 with Iyer going all guns blazing.

Iyer and Tripathi continued with their carnage and both the batters registered their respective half-centuries. Both batters put on 88 runs for the second wicket, however, this stand was finally broken by Bumrah as he sent Iyer (53) back to the pavilion with KKR 28 runs away from the target.

In the end, Tripathi (74*) and Nitish Rana (5*) took KKR over the line by seven wickets with 29 balls to spare.

Earlier, Quinton de Kock’s 55-run knock helped Mumbai Indians post 155/6 against KKR in the allotted twenty overs.

Sent into bat, Mumbai Indians got off to a good start as opening batters Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock put on 56 runs inside the first six overs. Rohit and de Kock eventually put on 78 runs for the opening wicket, and this stand was finally broken by Sunil Narine in the 10th over as he dismissed Rohit (33).

Suryakumar Yadav who came out to bat at number three failed to leave a mark as he scored just five runs. He was sent back to the pavilion by Prasidh Krishna. Two overs later, de Kock (55) was also dismissed and Mumbai Indians was reduced to 106/3 in the 15th over.

Ishan Kishan (14) might have hit a long six off the bowling of Andre Russell, but he perished in the next over off the bowling of Lockie Ferguson. In the end, Kieron Pollard scored 21 runs from 15 balls to take Mumbai’s score past the 150-run mark.

Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians 155/6 (Quinton de Kock 55, Rohit Sharma 33; Lockie Ferguson 2-27) vs KKR 159/3 (Rahul Tripathi 74*, Venkatesh Iyer 53, Jasprit Bumrah 3-43).