Hardik Pandya guides Mumbai Indians to a thrilling four-wicket win to start their home campaign on a positive note vs KKRâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088at Wankhede
Manish Pandey
Kolkata Knight Riders' Manish Pandey during his unbeaten 81 against Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium yesterday. Pic/Suresh Karkera
Mumbai Indians opened their Indian Premier League (IPL)âu00c2u0080u00c2u0088campaign at home by winning a nail-biting encounter against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR)âu00c2u0080u00c2u0088by four wickets at Wankhede Stadium yesterday.
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Chasing 179 for a win, Rohit Sharma and Co. crossed the finish line with one ball to spare.
The star for Mumbai was Hardik Pandya who scored 29 off 11 balls with three fours and two sixes.
KKR's good startâu00c2u0080u00c2u0088
Earlier, KKR's opening pair of skipper Gautam Gambhir and Chris Lynn started on a positive note by scoring 34 in the first three overs after being put in by MI skipper Rohit Sharma. Sri Lankan pace ace Lasith Malinga, who replaced Tim Southee, went for 10 in his first over.
Both Gambhir and Lynn were severe on Mitchell McClenaghan and Jasprit Bumrah who went for nine and 15 runs respectively in their first overs. Lynn welcomed Malinga with a huge six over the mid-wicket fence in his second over which cost MI nine runs. However, the move to introduce left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya in the attack paid dividends when the Baroda bowler sent back Gambhir (19) and then Robin Uthappa (4) in the same over.
Magnificent Manish
However, the man who changed things in favour of KKR was No.4 batsman Manish Pandey. The Karnataka lad came in to bat when KKR lost two wickets for 48 in the fifth over. Pandey not only steadied the KKR ship, but also helped his side to set a respectable 178 for seven with his unbeaten 81 off 47 balls (5x4, 5x6). He put on 44 with Suryakumar Yadav (17) for the fifth wicket.
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