XtraTime Web Desk: Kolkata Knight Riders suffered a huge loss in their maiden match of this year’s IPL. Chasing 196 runs, KKR started very slow and with the loss of Narine and Shubman Gill early, KKR were in backfoot from the start. In the end KKR finished at 146 runs and lost the match by 49 runs. With today’s victory Mumbai has now won 20 matches against KKR which is most wins against any opponent in IPL history. In the last 11 face-offs, Mumbai has won 10 times while KKR registered only 1 victory.
Rohit Sharma led his team from front. Scoring 80 runs of 54 balls, Rohit set the stage for Mumbai to score big. Surya Kumar Yadav scored 47 runs of 28 runs and with their contribution Mumbai set up such a huge total. In the 2nd innings, Bumrah gave no chance to the KKR batsmen. Bowled brilliantly in the first 3 overs and took crucial wickets of Andre Russell and Eoin Morgan and that was the final nail of KKR’s coffin. Pat Cummins later hit 4 sixes in Bumrah’s fourth over but it was never enough.
Mumbai Indians registered their first victory in UAE. Tried in 2014 as well, MI failed. Speaking about that Rohit said, “It was only two players from the 2014 squad. It was all about how we executed our plans today, we were in good positions and it was all about being ruthless.”
Rohit’s knock changed the game and thus was elected as Man Of the Match. He said, “The wicket was good and dew was coming down. I back myself to play my shots and have practiced quite a bit. Pretty happy with the performance of my squad. All my shots were good (laughs), can’t pick one. I haven’t played a lot of cricket in a long time; it didn’t come out well in the first innings but glad to have done it tonight.”
When he was asked about the strong fast bowling line-up Mumbai, Rohit said, “We never knew that the IPL would happen in the UAE so we wanted a pace attack that was strong for the Wankhede. But the ball was seaming around for the first six overs over here as well. We haven’t played much with Trent Boult and Pattinson, but it was good that we were on the same page.”
“It takes a lot out of you to play in these conditions. Maybe I was a bit tired in the end and it was a lesson for us that one set batsmen needs to bat till the end. We’ve seen it in the past and that’s what I tried to do.” This is what Rohit said before concluding the post match conference.
Speaking in the Post Match Conference, KKR captain Dinesh Karthik said, “Pretty rusty day to be honest. Don’t want to be too analytical about it. The boys know where they need to get better.
Speaking about the performances from Cummins and Morgan, DK said, “Pat Cummins and Morgan just finished their quarantine today. So it is not easy to come in and play in this heat.”