In a high-profile clash between Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians at the Eden Gardens, Rohit Sharma's side emerged the better side by 9 runs. Tonight's game was played to see who finishes the group stages at the top as Kolkata wasted a fine chance to reach the summit of the Indian Premier League.
Kolkata won the toss and decided to bowl first, which has been their go-to mantra this season. Mumbai made 173 on the board with Ambati Rayudu being the highest score with 67 runs. KKR faltered in the middle as regular wickets made them lose the plot and help Mumbai to script a well-crafted victory.
Here are the player ratings for the enthralling game of cricket between KKR and MI:
Mumbai Indians
Saurabh Tiwary - 9/10
Playing his first match of the season, Tiwary had an edgy start to his knock as he was finding it tough to middle the ball. He slowly got into the act and then began to score much freely as the inning progressed.
He made the most of his chance by scoring a hard-fought 52 runs off 43 balls. Tiwary's partnership with Rohit Sharma set the ball rolling for the Mumbai Indians. He threw away his wicket at the end and was run out while completing a single.
Lendl Simmons - 2/10
The West Indian has struggled in the past against left arm pacers at the start of his innings and Kolkata used that weakness of him with Trent Boult troubling him from the first ball. Simmons was dismissed for a nought as he tried to clear the in the field, but could not get over the mid off.
Rohit Sharma - 7/10
The Mumbai Indians captain never gave allowed a bowler to settle against him and tore apart Kolkata's spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Sunil Narine. He rotated the strike well but when it looked like as if it is going to be the Sharma show at the Eden Gardens once again, Rajpoot caught him leg before at 27.
Sharma's sensational six off Umesh Yadav over his head was the highlight of his innings. He used his bowlers well in the powerplay which helped KKR to get three wickets in the first six overs.
Ambati Rayudu - 9/10
Fluent is the right word to describe Rayudu's time in the middle. Playing just his second game of the IPL 2017, the Indian international proved his worth by hitting the ball sweetly as ever and making a quickfire 63 from 37 deliveries. Though Tiwary took some time to get going, Rayudu started the onslaught from the word go and took every KKR bowler apart.
Kieron Pollard - 4/10
Pollard took many balls to adjust but never got going. He arrived at a crucial stage but failed to capitalise in the slog overs. Apart from one humongous six against Boult, he remained largely anonymous in the match.
Hardik Pandya - 9/10
Though he did not get much to bat, Pandya made up for it in the bowling department. He went for 11 runs in the first over but then took the wickets of Kolkata's last proper batting pair of Colin De Grandhomme and Manish Pandey. He also bowled the last over and completed the job with perfection without any fuss. A match winning bowling performance.
Krunal Pandya - 5/10
The southpaw did not get a chance to bat but bowled two economical overs in the middle of Kolkata's innings to help Mumbai build the pressure. He gave away just 14 runs in the two overs that were assigned to him.
Karn Sharma - 6/10
Sharma never shied from giving flight which saw him getting thrashed at the hands of Pathan. He bowled his best over in the powerplay where he took the all important wicket of the in-form Robin Uthappa.
Vinay Kumar - 8/10
In his first match of the season, Kumar was on fire as his pace variations helped Mumbai take control of the game. He took the all important wickets of Chris Lynn and Yusuf Pathan when the duo started to look threatening.
Tim Southee - 7/10
Southee started his spell sensationally as he took the scalp of the in-form Narine in the very first over. He lost his way in the middle overs but came back strong.
Mitchell Johnson - 5/10
He replaced Malinga in the playing eleven and made an instant impact by taking a wicket in his second over. Johnson took the all important wicket of Gautam Gambhir but failed to control the flow of runs under him. He also did a misfield in the penultimate over which led to a boundary for Kuldeep.
Kolkata Knight Riders
Chris Lynn - 5/10
Lynn was looking good as he struck two huge sixes and three powerful fours in his short cameo but lost his wicket to a short delivery which was there for the taking. Lynn must have been disappointed with himself as that bowl from Kumar did not have much in it.
Sunil Narine - 3/10
Mumbai had a plan against Kolkata's opener and it worked as Narine was cramped for room and was bowled out for a duck in the first over itself. With the ball, Narine turned out to be ineffective as well with Rohit Sharma taking him to the cleaners early on and the West Indian could not emerge from that blow.
He finished with the figures of 37 runs for no wickets in his four-over quota.
Also Read: MI's plan to counter Narine is SK play of the day
Gautam Gambhir - 6/10
The captain was looking as confident as Lynn and hit three fours and one six in the first four overs of the innings. But he lost out against a rising delivery from Mitchell Johnson as a top edge from the batsman led to a catch at fine leg for Karn Sharma.
Robin Uthappa - 2/10
A rare failure for Uthappa as he could not get going for the Knight Riders in a tricky situation. He was cramped for room against Karn and played a needless shot at that stage to increase the pressure on the new men at the crease.
Manish Pandey - 5/10
Pandey batted sensibly when wickets were falling around him but could not change gears when needed. He was needed until the end but failed to do so.
Yusuf Pathan - 4/10
Pathan was sent with a clear mission, to try and hit every ball for a four or a six. He made his intentions very clear by top edging the first ball for a six and then got behind Karn Sharma and Vinay Kumar to score at a rate of over 300. He was tricked by Sharma to give away his wicket after scoring 20 from 7 balls.
Also Read: 5 things that went wrong for Kolkata Knight Riders
Colin De Grandhomme - 6/10
Grandhomme bowled just two overs in the first innings but his real contribution in the game came with the bat. He looked classy in his short cameo and scored brilliantly behind the cover, hitting four boundaries in the same region. He lost his wicket at the end to a peach of a delivery by Hardik Pandya.
Kuldeep Yadav - 6/10
The Chinaman bowled with courage and was never afraid to bowl to his strengths which helped him take the wicket of Rayudu. He also batted sensibly in a delicate situation of the match but fell prey to a bad umpiring decision.
Umesh Yadav - 3/10
An off day for the Indian quickie. He gave away 40 runs and was not looking confident at any stage of the game.
Ankit Rajpoot - 8/10
The youngster was the best bowler on the night for KKR as he bowled the right lengths throughout his spell. He bowled three overs and gave away just 14 runs and took the all important wicket of Rohit Sharma.
Trent Boult - 8/10
The New Zealander bowled completely according to the plan and never gave any room in his first spell. His second spell saw him astutely getting the better off Kieron Pollard as Boult finished the figures of 30/2 in four overs.
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