IPL 2018, KKR vs MI: 5 reasons why Kolkata lost against Mumbai

It was a highly anticipated clash in the IPL today as the Kolkata Knight Riders looked to avenge their defeat against Mumbai at the Wankhede stadium, a couple of days back. Dinesh Karthik won the toss and elected to field first.

Mumbai got off to a slow start but a stupendous knock by Ishan Kishan got their innings going. Some lusty blows at the end by Ben Cutting propelled Mumbai’s score to 210.

In reply, Kolkata got off to a woeful start as they lost both their openers with not many runs on the board. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals and in the end, Mumbai emerged victorious by a massive 102 runs. Let us have a look at 5 reasons why Kolkata lost.

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#1 Ishan Kishan blitzkrieg

A lot of promise has been shown by the young Ishan Kishan in recent games. He has gone on to play some handy cameos.

However, today he played truly match-changing innings. Coming in to bat in the 10th over, Kishan played the innings of his life. With his team needing some handy blows after a slow start, Kishan went after KKR’s bowling from the word go.

His innings of 62 runs of just 21 balls included 5 fours and 6 sixes. Kishan’s innings changed the momentum of the match completely and put Mumbai into the driver’s seat.

#2 Kuldeep Yadav’s off day

Kuldeep Yadav has been the trump card for Kolkata Knight Riders this season. The left arm chinaman has the happy knack of picking up wickets at the vital stages of the match.

However, Kuldeep had a forgetful outing today as he went for a massive 43 runs of his 3 overs. Ishan Kishan had a special liking for Kuldeep as he smashed him for back to back 4 sixes in the 14th over. Kuldeep’s disastrous spell had a big say in the final outcome of the game.

#3 Ben Cutting’s vital cameo

Ben Cutting has not got to face many deliveries in this year’s IPL. Today, he was sent up the order, ahead of J.P Duminy and Krunal Pandya and he showed everyone what he is all about.

Cutting made his intentions pretty clear by hitting the second ball of his innings over the fence. He destroyed Piyush Chawla in the last over by belting 16 runs of the first 3 balls. Cutting smashed 24 runs off just 9 balls to provide the much needed finishing touch to Mumbai’s innings.

#4 Big guns fail to fire

Chasing a big target, Kolkata needed a quick start at the top. However, all those plans were shattered as they lost Sunil Narine on the second ball of their innings. Chris Lynn looked in great touch but was unfortunately run out as he was caught in a mix up with Robin Uthappa.

Uthappa himself could only manage to score 14 runs. A lot was expected of Andre Russell by the KKR’s fans but the big Jamaican continued in his poor vein of form and could only muster 2 runs.

#5 Hardik Pandya shines with the ball

Hardik Pandya has not had a great season with the bat but the maverick all-rounder has a happy knack of picking up wickets. He has consistently contributed with the ball this season.

Today as well, Hardik was excellent with the ball as picked up the crucial wickets of Andre Russell and Nitish Rana and conceded just 16 runs off his 3 overs. By picking up these 2 wickets, Hardik Pandya increased his wicket tally to 16 wickets and became the joint leading wicket-taker in this year’s IPL.

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