Mumbai: Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians were left shell-shocked when Australian captain Pat Cummins pulled off a stunning victory by five wickets for Kolkata Knight Riders with a blistering unbeaten 56 off just 15 balls in their IPL 2022 match on Wednesday night.
Chasing a target of 162, Kolkata, like every other game, found little support from the top and middle orders losing wickets at regular intervals. When Cummins came out to bat, Mumbai were falling heavy on Kolkata, who were reduced to 101/5 in 13.1 overs.
After picking up two wickets during Mumbai innings, the Aussie bowler decided to deal with Sharma’s bowlers only in fours and sixes. With four fours and six sixes, Cummins won the match with four overs to spare.
Not to forget young Venkatesh Iyer who played a crucial role in the innings holding one end up to remain unbeaten on 50 off 41 balls.
Earlier, Mumbai after battling initial hiccups scored 161/4 in 20 overs. Suryakumar Yadav’s 52 off 36 balls, Tilak Varma’s unbeaten 38 and Kieron Pollard’s unbeaten 22 off five balls led Mumbai to a competitive score.
Cummins, who was named Player of the Match, said he was more surprised than anyone else. “I probably think I’m most surprised by that innings. I’m glad that it came off. I was thinking of having a swing if it was in my area. Wasn’t trying to overthink it,” he said at the post-match press presentation ceremony.
“Very satisfying to do it on my first game this season. Was just trying to pepper the shorter boundary. The hard thing after a big auction is that there are a lot of changes from last year. It’s a good mix of talent out there and quite relaxed with the boys,” he added.
Brief Scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders 162-5 (Pat Cummins 56, Venkatesh Iyer 50; Murugan Ashwin 2-25) beat Mumbai Indians 161-4 (Suryakumar Yadav 52, Tilak Varma 38; Pat Cummins 2-49) by 5 wickets.
Agencies
