Pandya brothers shine as Mumbai choke Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede

It is not just a game; it’s a matter of pride when Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders clash against each other. The rivalry was not just in between the wickets between these two teams and their fan bases, it has grown to new heights ever since Wankhede Stadium banned Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan for some time. In the Indian Premier League both Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders lifted the trophy three times and two times respectively in just 11 years so, every time Indian Premier League kicks off, cricket fans try to keep their schedule clear to witness this heart-pounding clash of these two teams.

Being sent to bat first by the visiting team, Mumbai Indians started off well with both of their openers Suryakumar Yadav and Evin Lewis partnered for 91 runs setting the path of the game from the start that Mumbai is not going to hold them back in this game. After the fall of the first wicket in 91 runs, the skipper Rohit Sharma walked down to the crease to bat but unfortunately he could not score more than 11 runs off 11 balls just before being hunted by Sunil Narine. Mumbai Indians were looking to reach the 200 runs mark on the scoreboard but a few good overs in the second half of the Mumbai Innings reduced them to a mere total of 181 runs.  Hardik Pandya of the Pandya brothers once again guided the Mumbaikars home with a decorated 35 runs of 20 balls.

With a starting run rate of 9.05 runs per over, Chris Lynn and Shubham Gill opened the innings for the Kolkata Knight Riders team. It was shocking to see that Sunil Narine who has a strike rate of approximately 210 in the IPL was not sent to open the innings. Lynn and Gill started to hit the boundaries but not for long and after 3.1 overs the scoreboard read 28 runs for the loss of 2 wickets. The Pandya brothers ensured that Shubham Gill doesn’t pull off a wonder in this game and then came to bat the in-form Robin Uthappa who was lucky to get spared by Markande when his catch was dropped, he had only managed to score four runs. Robin with the help of another youngster Rana scored a partnership of 84 runs and the game was in favor of the visitors. However, the next bowling change by Mumbai saw Markande coming to bowl and claiming Robin’s wicket. Robin was all set to go ballistic as he scored his 50. A couple of wickets fell for KKR in no time and once again Mumbai were in the driving seat. The skipper of KKR, Dinesh Karthik tried his best to hit the ball out of the park but terribly failed in the last over and KKR lost 13 runs.