Mumbai trump faltering Kolkata

Chennai, April 13

Mumbai Indians’ leg-spinner Rahul Chahar picked up four wickets to derail Kolkata Knight Riders in their chase of a modest 153-run target as the defending champions won the fifth match of IPL-14 by 10 runs.

KKR seemed to be cruising towards the target when Shubman Gill (33 off 24 balls) and Nitish Rana (57 off 47 balls) were batting during their first-wicket partnership of 72, scored at over 8 runs an over.

However, the complexion of the match changed in minutes as Chahar picked up the four wickets. First Gill was removed by Rahul Chahar with a clever change in pace; Chahar got Rahul Tripathi (5) stumped by wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock, and then had captain Eoin Morgan caught at deep midwicket with a ball bowled wide. Shakib Al Hasan was the next to fall victim to Chahar as he lofted the ball straight to deep-square leg.

At 122/5 in 15.2 overs, KKR needed only 31 off 28 balls, but their lower-order just could not get going.

Stokes out of IPL with finger fracture

New Delhi: England all-rounder Ben Stokes’ IPL campaign has come to an abrupt end after he broke a finger in his left hand while fielding during Rajasthan Royals’ loss to Punjab Kings on Monday in Mumbai. A Rajasthan Royals statement said that investigations revealed that Stokes had sustained a broken finger. “We are delighted that Ben would like to stay with the group to provide his valued support and inputs off the field,” the statement added. It was due to the injury that Stokes didn’t bowl more than one over even as Punjab Kings scored a massive 222. Rajasthan Royals said they would be “reviewing” potential replacement options for the remainder of the season. TNS

Krunal Pandya, bowling the 18th over, did well by restricting Andre Russell (9 off 15 balls) and Dinesh Karthik (8 off 11) to only three runs. Krunal had given away only one run in the 16th over and finished with brilliant figures of 1/13 off four overs. Needing 22 off 18 balls, KKR could manage only 11 in them. Karthik and Russell failed to hit a single boundary in three overs, and it was all over for KKR.

Russell’s late strikes

Earlier, Russell, who bowled only the 18th and 20th overs, finished with five wickets off only 12 balls, giving away 15 runs, as MI slumped from 125/5 to 152 all out.

After KKR opted to bowl, Eoin Morgan’s astute captaincy was on full display as he used his resources to perfection to choke MI in the middle overs after Suryakumar Yadav threatened to seize control with his 36-ball 56. The World Cup-winning England skipper used Pat Cummins cleverly in the middle — the masterstroke was certainly keeping Russell for the fag end as MI lost their last seven wickets for 37 runs. Russell was brought on only after Cummins finished his spell in the 16th over, and the Jamaican used the platform perfectly by dismissing Krunal Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah and Rahul Chahar off the final four balls en route his milestone.

Shakib deserves credit for stopping the run-flow as the Bangladesh left-arm spinner dismissed Yadav in the 11th over and changed the complexion of the game. — TNS, agencies

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