‘A top team effort’: Kolkata too hot to handle as Mumbai suffer another defeat

The 56th match of the Indian T20 League 2022 saw Mumbai face off against Kolkata at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai. The pitch assisted the bowlers and as a result, the fans witnessed a close fight between the bat and the bowl.

Mumbai won the toss and decided to set a target for Kolkata. Kolkata was off to a blazing start as Venkatesh Iyer took on the bowlers from the very beginning of the innings. On the back of Iyer’s onslaught, the Men in Purple crossed the 50 runs mark within the sixth over. Venkatesh’s stay was cut short by Kumar  Kartikeya in the sixth over. He scored 43 runs off 24 deliveries hitting three fours and four sixes. Ajinkya Rahane (25 of 24) could leave a telling impact on his return match as he too became a victim of Kartikeya’s bowling. The left-hander, Nitish Rana looked steady in the middle  as he scored 43 off 26 deliveries. He hit three fours and four sixes during his stay.

The Mumbai batting experienced a batting collapse starting from the 14th over of the innings. They were going at a runs rate around 10 runs per over at this stage and looked all set for a formidable total. But loss of seven wickets for 41 runs restricted Kolkata’s score to 165 runs in their 20 overs. Jasprit Bumrah redeemed himself in the match as he picked up five wickets conceding 10 runs from his four overs. His effort included a triple wicket over.

Mumbai was rocked early in their chase as they lost Rohit Sharma (2 of 6) in the first over. Wickets kept falling after this in regular intervals and the absence of Suryakumar Yadav in the top order was evident. Ishan Kishan however looked determined to go big as he dug deep at one end. He got himself settled in the middle and then gradually started to take the attack to the bowlers. He was however dimissed onthe 15th over of the innings by Pat Cummins. Before being dismissed Kishan scored 51 runs off 43 deliveries hitting five fours and one six. It was this over that changed the complexion of the match. Cummins picked up three wickets in the over and just conceded 2 runs of it. At the conclusion of the over, Kolkata was 102 for 7 needing 64 runs of the last 30 balls. Kireon Pollard was still out there and was the only hope for the Men in Blue and Gold.

However, the lower order crumbled under pressure. Kolkata bundled Mumbai for 113 runs in the 18th over and won the match by 52 runs. This was Mumbai’s ninth loss in eleven matches , while Kolkata won their 5th match in 12 outings. Part Cummins was the pick of the bowlers for Kolkata as he picked up three wickets for 22 runs from his four overs.

Here is how Twitter reacted to the match.

https://twitter.com/mipaltan/status/1523693094180335616?s=20&t=N2d1XQvo9foWtVVF7NCF6A

https://twitter.com/harbhajan_singh/status/1523692392330645505?s=20&t=N2d1XQvo9foWtVVF7NCF6A

https://twitter.com/WasimJaffer14/status/1523691016909651968?s=20&t=N2d1XQvo9foWtVVF7NCF6A

https://twitter.com/s_badrinath/status/1523694187291455489?s=20&t=N2d1XQvo9foWtVVF7NCF6A

https://twitter.com/thebharatarmy/status/1523712120441159680?s=20&t=N2d1XQvo9foWtVVF7NCF6A

Innings Break!#KKR post a total of 165/9 on the board.#MumbaiIndians chase coming up shortly. Stay tuned!

Scorecard – https://t.co/0TDNSwhQXs #MIvKKR #TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/OuZWq6F8zY

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 9, 2022

https://twitter.com/Sportskeeda/status/1523718371438563330?s=20&t=N2d1XQvo9foWtVVF7NCF6A

AM I seeing what I am- total collapse MI, eh? #MIvsKKR #IPL2022

— Reema Malhotra (@ReemaMalhotra8) May 9, 2022

https://twitter.com/KKRiders/status/1523718953293414401?s=20&t=J7KOxT0VGAqVf9He18C7fw

https://twitter.com/harbhajan_singh/status/1523715062124269569?s=20&t=J7KOxT0VGAqVf9He18C7fw

Excellent use of bowlers so far by #KKR. Using the pace of Russell early and keeping the spinner for David.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 9, 2022

https://twitter.com/harbhajan_singh/status/1523724634012602368?s=20&t=EQRR-dnp-MhY3rfVu-yu6g