Bowling first after winning the toss, Mumbai Indians did a good job of restricting Kolkata Knight Riders to 185 for 6. Iyer was outstanding as he smashed six fours and as many as nine sixes, scoring at a strike rate of over 200. However, the rest of the batters could not make much of an impact. N Jagadeesan (0), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (8) and skipper Nitish Rana (5) all fell cheaply as KKR stumbled to 73/3.
Shardul Thakur (13) and Rinku Singh (18) also could not convert starts. In the end, an impressive cameo by Andre Russell (21* off 11) lifted KKR to 185. The West Indian batter struck three fours and a six to give the Kolkata innings a push at the death. For Mumbai, Hrithik Shokeen claimed 2/34, while four other bowlers chipped in with a wicket each.
Rohit Sharma, who did not play in the first half due to a stomach bug, came in as the Impact Substitute in the chase. He looked in decent touch and scored 20 off 13, adding 65 runs for the opening wicket with Ishan Kishan. The latter displayed great hitting form, slamming five fours and as many sixes. Kishan was dismissed for 58 off 25, bowled by Varun Chakaravarthy.
Stand-in skipper Suryakumar Yadav returned to form with a fine 43 off only 25 balls. He added 60 runs for the third wicket with Tilak Varma (30 off 25) as Mumbai eased towards victory. Varma was bowled by Suyash Sharma, while Suryakumar was caught behind off Thakur. Tim David (24 not out off 13) played another impressive cameo to take MI over the line in 17.4 overs.
Speaking after winning the Player of the Match, Venkatesh Iyer said, "Would have been happier if we would have finished on the winning note but nonetheless, pleased with my effort. That's the role given to me by the management and it's my job to repay them. Obviously it was a very beautiful wicket to bat on. Once you score those 30-40 runs, it gets easy to score. Really happy to get a hundred.”
--By A Cricket Correspondent
