Mumbai Indians (MI) suffered a comprehensive 18-run defeat at the hands of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the iconic Eden Gardens on Saturday (May 11).
Chasing 158 to win, MI managed to reach 139/8 in a 16-overs-a-side contest due to rain. Thanks to Ishan Kishan’s fireworks at the top, the five-time champions raced to 65/0 but their batting line-up collapsed once the southpaw was dismissed for 40 off 22 balls.
The likes of Rohit Sharma (19), Suryakumar Yadav (11), Hardik Pandya (2), Tim David (0) and Nehal Wadhera (3) failed to make any notable contributions with the bat. Tilak Varma's aggressive 32 off 17 balls provided some impetus, but it wasn't enough to steer MI to victory.
Reflecting on the loss, Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya acknowledged that his team hadn't performed up to their potential throughout the season.
It was MI’s ninth defeat in 13 games this season. Before this game, they were already out of the playoffs race.
"Tough one. As a batting unit, the foundation was there but we could not capitalise and that cost us. The wicket was tacky, so momentum was important but after that we couldn't capitalise. Their score was par, given the conditions I thought the bowlers did well. When the balls returned from the boundary, it hit the cover and was wet. They did well. It seemed par but was a winning total," Pandya said at the post-match presentation.
"Just want to go and enjoy, play good cricket. That's been the motto from the start but we haven't played enough good cricket," he added.
Earlier, KKR posted 157/7 on the board after being asked to bat first. Venkatesh Iyer was the top scorer with 21-ball 42 while Nitish Rana (33 off 23), Andre Russell (24 off 14), Rinku Singh (20 off 12) and Ramandeep Singh (17* off 8) chipped in with crucial cameos.
Later on, Mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy starred with the ball for KKR, claiming two wickets by conceding only 17 runs in his four overs.
With this victory, Kolkata Knight Riders became the first team to book their spot in the IPL 2024 playoffs.
