Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) registered their third victory in the ongoing IPL season as they defeated Mumbai Indians (MI) by five wickets at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Wednesday (April 6).
Asked to bat first, MI posted 161/4 in their 20 overs on the back of Suryakumar Yadav’s 36-ball 52. Tilak Varma (38 off 27 balls) and Dewald Brevis (29 off 19 balls) also made notable contributions with the bat.
Umesh Yadav once again made his mark with the ball for KKR, claiming one wicket by conceding 25 runs in his four overs. Pat Cummins (2-49) also returned with a couple of scalps but he was quite expensive.
In reply, the Knight Riders lost Anjikya Rahane (7), Shreyas Iyer (10), Sam Billings (17), Nitish Rana (8), and Andre Russell (11) cheaply. However, opener Venkatesh Iyer held the one firmly. When KKR were struggling at 101/5 after 13.1 overs, Cummins arrived in the middle to join Venkatesh and the former made the mockery of MI attack.
Playing his first match in this year’s IPL, Cummins attacked the Mumbai bowlers from the outset. He was particularly severe on his compatriot Daniel Sams, smashing him for 35 runs in the 16th over to take KKR over the line with 24 balls to spare.
In the process, Pat Cummins notched up his half-century in just 14 balls – joint-fastest in the cash-rich league alongside KL Rahul. He eventually stayed unbeaten on 56 off 15 balls, including 4 fours and 6 sixes while Venkatesh Iyer finished with 50 not out off 41 balls.
For his stunning display with the bat, Pat Cummins received rich praise from the cricket fraternity on Twitter.
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