Mumbai Indians seal the final place after convincing a six-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2017 Qualifier 2.
Mumbai Indians beat Kolkata Knight Riders by six wickets in the IPL 2017 Qualifier 2 and book a place in Sunday’s final against Rising Pune Supergiant. The two-time champions will now meet 2016 debutants Rising Pune Supergiant in Sunday’s final.
Mumbai rode on all-rounder Krunal Pandya’s unbeaten knock of 45 to register the six-wicket win in the second qualifier at M Chinnaswamy stadium. After opting to field first, Rohit Sharma-led unit was brilliant with the ball as they managed to bowl out the Knight Riders for mere 107 runs.
On Chasing the Lowest total in the play-offs Mumbai lost three early but Krunal Pandya played a fluent hand to see his side home. Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders, after put into bat, were bundled out for 107 by Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2017 Qualifier 2 in Bangalore on Friday.
Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine didn’t get going for the hosts, and the middle-order too was back in the hut without making a substantial contribution. Ishank Jaggi’s 28 and Suryakumar Yadav’s 31 were the only notable performances from KKR batsmen. For Mumbai, Jasprit Bumrah (3/7) made early inroads and then it was Karn Sharma (4/16) show in the middle overs.
Jasprit Bumrah, who has been excellent in the death overs, was handed the new ball and the move worked as he got Chris Lynn cheaply. After six overs, Kolkata found themselves on backfoot as they had just 25 runs on the board. Karn Sharma, after Bumrah’s new-ball show, ran through KKR’s batting order.
KKR, who started the tournament on a very strong note, will end their campaign and will be very disappointed with the result. The two-time champs outplayed SRH in the Eliminator but their batting didn’t come good after Rohit put the Gambhir and Co into bat. The combination of Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine didn’t work against a formidable Mumbai bowling line-up and Rohit’s bowling changes never allowed them to settle. Jasprit Bumrah made early inroads and manage to pick the big wickets of Chris Lynn and Robin Uthappa.
After seam show, it was Karn Sharma all the way as the leggie ran through KKR’s middle-order and returned with impressive figures of 4/16. Ishank Jaggi and Suryakumar Yadav’s stand did push the total over the 100-run mark but one of them had to stay till the end for a respectable figure. That was not the case to be today and full marks to Mumbai for bowling the way they did today.
Now Mumbai is ready to face Rising Pune Supergiant in the final race. The Steve Smith-led unit has managed to beat Mumbai all three times they have met in the IPL so far. Will Sunday be the fourth? Or Mumbai’s third title? We will find that out in less than two day’s time.
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