Kolkata, May 21:
Kolkata Knight Riders lived to fight another day with a crucial four-wicket win over Mumbai Indians after Sunil Narine-led bowlers once again delivered on a testing Eden Gardens surface to keep their IPL play-off hopes alive here on Wednesday.
Needing nothing less than a win to remain in contention, KKR rode on a clinical bowling effort to restrict the already eliminated five-time champions to a modest 147/8 after Ajinkya Rahane won a good toss.
In reply, veteran Manish Pandey (45 off 33 balls; 6×4) finally got an opportunity to bat at No. 3 with talented keeper-batter Angkrish Raghuvanshi injured and anchored a tense chase in a 33-ball 45.
He along with Rovman Powell (40; 30b, 4×4, 2×6) shared a crucial 64-run partnership to set it up as the hosts overhauled the 148-run target in 18.5 overs.
The victory lifted KKR from eighth to sixth in the standings with 13 points and kept their slim playoff hopes alive with six wins from 13 matches.
However, their fate is no longer in their own hands as KKR will now closely follow Rajasthan Royals’ clash against Mumbai Indians on Sunday afternoon before they face Delhi Capitals in the evening clash.
A Royals win would seal their qualification and eliminate KKR, rendering Kolkata’s final league game against DC inconsequential.
For MI, it was their ninth defeat in 13 matches as the five-time champions remained second from bottom with one game left.
On a surface where strokeplay remained difficult, KKR began shakily and lost both openers inside the powerplay.
Finn Allen started aggressively with two boundaries before Deepak Chahar cleaned him up for 8.
Ajinkya Rahane survived an lbw review via umpire’s call but never looked comfortable during his 17-ball 21 before edging Corbin Bosch in the final over of the powerplay.
Bosch struck again in the eighth over when Cameron Green (4) miscued a poor delivery down the leg side straight to fine leg as KKR slipped to 54/3.
Mumbai sensed an opening but let the game drift through sloppy fielding.
In the 10th over, Powell top-edged a pull off Hardik Pandya. Chahar at fine leg appeared set for the catch but left it for Robin Minz running across from deep square leg, only for the ball to land safely between them.
Pandey however could not complete the chase and was cleaned up by Jasprit Bumrah, while in the next over Powell fell to AM Ghazanfar. But with hardly any scoreboard pressure – KKR needed 19 from last four overs –Rinku Singh (nine not out) and Anukul Roy (four not out) sealed their seventh win in last eight matches.
Earlier, KKR’s bowlers had exploited the sticky conditions superbly as Green (2/23), left-arm pacer Saurabh Dubey (2/34) and Narine’s exceptional figures of 1/13 choked MI.
Green was exceptional on the field and with the ball, striking twice in the space of three deliveries to remove Ryan Rickelton (6) and Naman Dhir (0).
He then pulled off a stunning running catch from midwicket to dismiss Rohit Sharma (15) off Dubey just when the Indian stalwart was looking to break free.
MI went on to lose three wickets for six runs in the space of eight balls.
After a one-hour rain interruption, KKR’s spin duo of Narine and injured Varun Chakravarthy tightened the screws further, conceding just 14 runs in their first four overs bowling in tandem.
Narine, in particular, was menacing with his turn and variable bounce, repeatedly troubling Tilak Varma, before taking the prized scalp of MI skipper Pandya (26) beating him with a delivery that drifted in and stayed low to crash into the stumps.