The much-anticipated faceoff between the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Mumbai Indians promised a gripping encounter, and it didn’t disappoint the masses that flocked to Eden Gardens on Sunday, May 12, 2024. The Knight Riders rose to the occasion, fashioning a remarkable 18-run triumph over their rivals, thus punching their ticket as the first team to secure a playoff berth in the IPL 2024 tournament.
The day’s proceedings were marred by early rain, which caused an unexpected two-hour delay, reducing the matchup to a 16-over per side affair. However, what followed was nothing short of exhilarating as Venkatesh Iyer, in his signature style, blazed his way through the Mumbai bowling lineup with a scorching 42 runs from 21 deliveries, propelling Kolkata to a formidable total of 157.
Following their decision to bat first, the hosts were in a spot of bother as both their in-form openers, Sunil Narine and Phil Salt, were dispatched back to the stands in the nascent stages of their innings. Captain Shreyas Iyer himself couldn’t make substantial inroads, falling for a paltry seven runs to Anshul Kamboj’s crafty bowling. However, it was the partnership between Venkatesh Iyer and the adept Nitish Rana which steadied the ship. The latter notched up a critical 33 runs which, along with the always-explosive 24 from Andre Russell, kept the Knight Riders in the hunt.
Despite Russell’s inability to close out the innings, Ramandeep Singh’s brisk 17 not out off 8 balls, capped by a mammoth six off Jasprit Bumrah’s final ball, gave Kolkata a needed boost. Piyush Chawla and Bumrah, on the contrary, put forth a commendable effort with two wickets apiece for Mumbai, though Hardik Pandya and Nuwan Thushara suffered under the burden of expensive spells.
The chase set forth at a frenetic pace, with Mumbai’s opening duo of Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma compiling a swift 65 runs within seven overs. While Rohit’s bat failed to fire for sixes and fours, Ishan exerted early dominance by smashing a rapid 40 from just 22 balls, offering Mumbai a glimpse of hope in the stiff chase.
The story took a turn when Kolkata’s ace spinner Varun Chakravarthy dismantled the openers, claiming the prized scalp of Sharma, followed by Narine ousting the threatening Kishan. Mumbai’s resilience ebbed away as they struggled to counter a climbing run rate, leading to a cascade of wickets.
Naman Dhir, in a valiant, if fleeting, show of resistance, hammered two sixes and a four off Russell’s penultimate over, leaving Mumbai with a steep cliff of 41 runs to scale. However, Harshit Rana held his nerve in the final over, calmly repelling Mumbai with two final wickets, ending their chase at 139/8.
The match also saw some strategic substitutions with Nitish Rana making way for Vaibhav Arora and Nuwan Thushara being replaced by none other than Rohit Sharma for Mumbai.
As the curtains drew on this riveting clash, the Mumbai Indians would reflect on what might have been, while the Kolkata Knight Riders bask in the glory of being the first team to carve their names in the playoff brackets of IPL 2024.
Mumbai Indians Playing XI: Ishan Kishan (wk), Naman Dhir, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Nehal Wadhera, Hardik Pandya (c), Tim David, Anshul Kamboj, Piyush Chawla, Jasprit Bumrah, Nuwan Thushara (substituted by Rohit Sharma).
Kolkata Knight Riders Playing XI: Philip Salt (wk), Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shreyas Iyer (c), Rinku Singh, Nitish Rana (substituted by Vaibhav Arora), Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Mitchell Starc, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy.
