14th match, KKR vs MI, IPL 2022: KKR won by 5 wickets
After defeating the Mumbai Indians (MI) by 5 wickets at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Wednesday, the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) moved to the top of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 table. As KKR chased down the goal of 162 with four overs to spare, Pat Cummins astonished everyone with his batting brilliance, equaling the joint-fastest half-century in IPL history. Kolkata Knight Riders lost Ajinkya Rahane's wicket early in their chase for 162, when the right-handed batter was caught in the deep in the fifth over off Tymal Mills' bowling.
On the final ball of the powerplay, KKR lost skipper Shreyas Iyer to Daniel Sams, who took his first wicket of the day, and KKR were 35-2 after six overs. After hitting sixes against Murugan Ashwin and Basil Thampi, Sam Billings, the new hitter in the crease, improved the scoring rate. KKR lost Billings' wicket when the right-hander holed out to long-off against Murugan Ashwin. Venkatesh Iyer struck his first maximum of the session. Nitish Rana sliced a six over third base for 14 runs in the 11th over. Murugan Ashwin's second victim was the left-handed hitter, who was caught at deep mid-wicket.
Tymal Mills returned to bowl the 14th over and immediately struck, scalping Andre Russell, who miscued a pull shot and was caught by Brevis. Pat Cummins, the new batter, got off to a flying start against Mills with a six and a four. As KKR needed 35 runs from the final five overs, Venkatesh Iyer completed his half-century in the next over, while Cummins hammered his second six. With his striking abilities, Pat Cummins reversed the momentum in just one over and went on to score the equal fastest half-century in the IPL.
Cummins clobbered four sixes and two fours against Daniel Sams as KKR pounded 35 runs off the 16th over and chased down the total with four overs to spare. The Mumbai Indians, who were given the opportunity to bat first, made two changes to their lineup: Dewald Brevis and Suryakumar Yadav were picked in the starting eleven. Umesh Yadav continued his strong form with the new ball, dismissing MI captain Rohit Sharma in the third over, who was caught by Sam Billings.
Dewald Brevis, a MI debutant, started his innings confidently, hitting two fours and a six to put MI up 35-1 at the end of the powerplay. Brevis was stumped by Sam Billings off Varun Chakaravarthy's bowling, bringing an end to a brief but entertaining tenure. Pat Cummins ejected Kishan after the left-handed hitter miscued a pull shot that was caught within the circle after a quiet couple of overs. Suryakumar Yadav surged after a four and an upper-cut for six against Umesh's bowling in the 13th over.
MI were 85-3 with 5 overs to go before conceding 30 runs in the next two overs, with Tilak Varma doing the brunt of the hitting. Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma put up a fifty-run stand for the fourth wicket. Suryakumar played a slog-sweep to smash a massive maximum followed by a four against Narine in the 18th over, putting MI in a terrific position with three overs to go. Suryakumar and Varma both scored four runs in the penultimate over Andre Russell. Suryakumar was caught behind for 52 runs, but MI concluded the game on a high note after Keiron Pollard's three sixes helped MI to 161-4 in the first innings.
Scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 162-5 (Pat Cummins 56*, Venkatesh Iyer 50*; Murugan Ashwin 2-25) beat Mumbai Indians 161-4 (Suryakumar Yadav 52, Tilak Varma 38; Pat Cummins 2-49) by 5 wickets.
