KKR finally break losing streak by defeating MI in order to confirm a playoffs berth for themselves.
Kolkata Knight Riders defeat Mumbai Indians by 32 runs in Match 65 of IPL at Mumbai.u00a0Chasing 141, Mumbai are bowled out for 108 in 19.1 overs
With the win Kolkata move closer to qualification for the playoffs.
ADVERTISEMENT
Sunil Narine picks up 4 wickets while L Balaji and Jacques Kallis take 2 each.
Sachin Tendulkar top-scores with 27
Earlier, Rudra Pratap Singh bagged two wickets in as many balls in his first over as Mumbai Indians restricted Kolkata Knight Riders to a paltry 140 for seven.
Seeking a victory to seal a play-off berth, MI were on top from the time skipper Harbhajan Singh opted to field after winning the toss, as their bowlers, led by R P Singh, kept the rival batsmen on a tight leash.
There was little of note in KKR's innings, which never got going after the loss of opener Brendon McCullum and Jacques Kallis off successive balls to RP Singh.
Skipper Gautam Gambhir made 28 off 23 balls with a six and three fours, while Manoj Tiwary scored an attractive 41 off 43 balls with two sixes and as many fours before both threw away their wickets.
The lower order batsmen tried their bit and managed to add 46 runs in the last five overs, with Yusuf Pathan making an unbeaten 21 in 21 balls with two fours, but the score looked below par on a track that looked good for batting.
Kolkata Knight Riders celebrate a wicket. Photo: AFP
For MI, who had lost their previous home game to Royal Challengers Bangalore by a big margin, RP Singh led the bowling honours with figures of two for 33 while Lasith Malinga, Munaf Patel, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Smith all picked up a wicket apiece.
KKR were put on the backfoot by RP Singh who packed off McCullum (1) and Kallis (0) off successive balls in his first over, and the innings' second.
While McCullum was on the wrong end of a dubious umpiring decision, Kallis had his off stump uprooted by a peach of a delivery from RP.
RP was denied a hat-trick by Manoj Tiwary, but the scoring rate fell down because of these two quick wickets.
Gambhir, who began with a superb straight drive off the first ball of the match from Munaf Patel, was a bit fortunate not to have been dismissed on nine as he was dropped by Sachin Tendulkar at the third man fence off RP Singh.
MI struck another major blow soon after the end of the strategic time-out when Pollard packed off Gambhir with a ball that held its line and took the top of his off stump.
Gambhir's stand of 38 in 42 balls for the third wicket with Tiwary helped the visitors steady their ship.
Tiwary was, however, lucky when umpire Billy Doctrove did not uphold a confident caught behind appeal by Dinesh Karthik off Pollard.
At the half-way stage of their allotted overs, the visitors had moved up to 54 for three.
The 12th over, third by Harbhajan Singh, proved fruitful for KKR when it yielded 14 runs with Tiwary cutting the off-spinner for a four and then lofting him for a six.
The Bengal batsman then stepped out to smack Malinga for a huge six over the sight screen in the next over.
At the other end, Shakib Al Hasan played a poor shot and got bowled trying to pull Dwayne Smith to an end the productive 29-ball 45-run fourth wicket partnership with Tiwary.
Tiwary too fell immediately afterwards, caught at long off by Malinga off Munaf's last over as KKR slumped to 91 for five. The foolish run out of Debabrata Das in the next over made life more difficult for the visitors.
Pathan led a charmed life. He top-edged and got a four, was caught off a no-ball and added 29 runs in 16 balls for the seventh wicket with Rajat Bhatia (12), which improved the score.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
