IPL 2018, MI vs KKR: 5 reasons why Kolkata Knightriders lost to Mumbai Indians

It was a high octane clash in the IPL today as the Kolkata Knight Riders took on the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede stadium.

Dinesh Karthik won the toss and elected to field first. Mumbai got off to a fantastic start courtesy some big hitting from their openers.

Mumbai galloped along to a score of 103 runs in their 11 overs but failed to finish well and posted a par score of 181 runs of their 20 overs.

In reply, Kolkata also got off to a bad start as they lost their openers cheaply. But an excellent partnership between Nitish Rana and Robin Uthappa got them back in the game.

However, once they departed, things slowed down and eventually Mumbai won the contest by 13 runs. Let us have a look at the five reasons for Kolkata’s loss.

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#1 Blistering start from MI openers

Mumbai got off to a good starts thanks to their openers

Mumbai got off to a fantastic start as both their openers Suryakumar Yadav and Evin Lewis smashed the KKR attack to all parts.

The duo played out the first two overs cautiously but then decided to open their arms. Yadav bludgeoned Mitchell Johnson for 15 runs in the third over to get their innings going.

He was ably supported by Lewis who made 43 runs of just 28 balls. KKR’s bowlers found it difficult to contain Mumbai’s openers as they raced off to a score of 89 runs in just nine overs.

#2 Spinners have an off day

Chhawla conceded 35 runs off his three overs

It is no secret that Kolkata’s spinners are its strength. They rely very heavily on their spinners to provide the crucial breakthroughs in the middle overs.

The trio of Kuldeep Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Sunil Narine are amongst the best in the business. However, they failed to make any impact against Mumbai today.

Chawla was particularly disappointing as he conceded 35 runs off his three overs. He was smashed for 14 runs by Evin Lewis in the 6th over. Kolkata’s spinners went for a massive 87 runs of their nine overs.

#3 Openers fail to fire

Lynn and Gill fell cheaply

Chasing a big score, Kolkata got off to a really bad start as they lost both their openers with not many runs on the board. Chris Lynn looked good as he smashed Mitchell McClenaghan for a couple of boundaries but thereafter deposited a simple catch to Jasprit Bumrah at the short fine leg.

He was quickly followed to the hut by his new opening partner Shubhman Gill, who sliced an easy catch to Krunal Pandya at mid-off in the very next over.

Kolkata could only muster 47 runs of their powerplay overs.

#4 Hardik Pandya continues good work with the ball

Pandya was excellent 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, Pandya was excellent with the ball as picked up the wickets of Gill and Rana. He only conceded 19 runs off his four overs.

By picking up these two wickets, Pandya increased his wicket tally to 14 wickets and became the leading wicket-taker in this year’s IPL.

#5 Andre Russell’s failure with the bat

Russell had a bad day with the bat

Andre Russell began the IPL on a high by smashing big runs against the Chennai Superkings and the Delhi Daredevils.

However, the big Jamaican has failed to do anything of note thereafter. Today as well, Russell failed to rise up to the occasion.

The partnership between Rana and Uthappa had got Kolkata back in the game but the finishing touches could not be provided by Russell.

Russell crawled his way to a 10-ball nine before falling to an excellent catch from Krunal Pandya.

Russell needs to improve with the bat if KKR is to qualify for the playoffs.