The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) snapped a 12-year winless streak at the Wankhede Stadium by defeating the Mumbai Indians (MI) by 24 runs in a low-scoring encounter during Match 51 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 on Friday, May 3rd.
KKR got off to a shaky start after opener Phil Salt fell cheaply for 5 runs to Nuwan Thushara's opening delivery. Mumbai bowlers capitalized on the early dismissal, putting pressure on the top order and causing a collapse. The top five KKR batsmen were dismissed within the first seven overs.
Despite losing Sunil Narine for just 8 runs, both skipper Shreyas Iyer and Rinku Singh departed with single-digit scores, leaving KKR reeling at 57/5 after 6.1 overs.
However, a crucial 83-run partnership between substitute Manish Pandey and Venkatesh Iyer revived KKR's innings. Venkatesh Iyer led the scoring with a brisk 70 runs, while Pandey contributed a valuable 42 before departing in the 16th over.
Jasprit Bumrah restricted KKR's scoring in the death overs, finishing with impressive figures of 3/18. Notably, these wickets marked his 50th at the Wankhede Stadium in the IPL.
Mumbai's Chase Falters
Mumbai mirrored KKR's struggles early in their chase, losing their top three batsmen for a combined total of just 35 runs. Kolkata's bowlers effectively defended their total, applying pressure from the start.
Nehal Wadhera and Tilak Varma attempted to build a partnership but were dismissed by Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy's spin attack, leaving Mumbai at a precarious 46/3 within the powerplay.
Skipper Hardik Pandya also failed to make a significant contribution, dismissed by Andre Russell with the score at 72/6 in the 11th over.
The onus fell on the final batting duo of Suryakumar Yadav and Tim David. Yadav played a swashbuckling knock of 56 runs, briefly reigniting Mumbai's hopes. However, his dismissal by Russell with 50 runs still needed off 27 balls proved pivotal.
David's 24-run cameo wasn't enough to secure victory for Mumbai, handing Kolkata their first win at the Wankhede Stadium in 12 years.
