Pat Cummins, the fast bowling sensation, came from nowhere as he scored an unbeaten 56 runs in 15 balls. KKR now has 3 wins out of 4 and has started to knock on the door of the play-offs.
Mumbai Indians, on the other hand, have joined CSK as both the teams have now lost 3 out of 3. MI is known to be slow starters, but losing 3 won’t keep them in a good place as bouncing back won’t be easy.
History says that MI clinched the title after losing 5 matches in a row (the 2015 edition where MI had won the title). Calculation-wise, it looks good, but in the practical sense, it looks tough as this year’s IPL has a slightly different flavor to it.
All in all, MI has to go back to the drawing board and hope that they start winning quickly, otherwise winning 7-8 matches consecutively won’t be easy.
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KKR with the bat in hand
KKR was set a target of 162 runs by the 5-time Champions MI. KKR had a mediocre power-play as they scored 35 runs for the loss of 2 wickets.
Scoring was not easy as there was less due, which meant that the score could be defended. MI had restricted KKR to 101-5 inside 14 overs, which meant that KKR would require at least 9-10 runs per over.
Then came Pat Cummins. He was just lethal from the word go. He changed the dynamics of the match as he struck a 14-ball half-century and made a statement that he is a handy batter too.
Within the blink of an eye, the match changed as KKR hunted down the target with 4 overs left in the tank. Cummins was unbeaten with a score of 56 runs in 15 balls, where he scored 4 fours and 6 sixes.
He was seen showing no mercy, which was the specialty of the knock. Cummins was well accompanied by Venkatesh Iyer, who scored 50 runs in 41 balls. The left-handed batter laid the foundation of the run chase, which was a must.
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MI with the bat in hand
KKR had won the toss and had elected to bowl first. KKR’s bowlers bowled impeccable lines and lengths and made scoring quite difficult. The power-play overs yielded 35 runs for the loss of 1 wicket.
At the end of 11 overs, MI’s score was 55-3 and it looked like MI would score around 130 odd runs. Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma resurrected the innings.
Suryakumar Yadav scored a well-deserved half-century of 52 runs in 36 balls, which included 5 fours and 2 sixes. In the last over, Kieron Pollard smashed 3 sixes off Pat Cummins and took MI’s total to 161-4, and all of sudden, it looked like MI had a chance to open their account.
KKR would be over the moon as who would have expected Pat Cummins to play a match-winning knock when you already have got the services of Andre Russell? All in all, KKR would be happy as of now, as they are the table-toppers in the Tata IPL 2022.
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What went wrong for MI
MI is undoubtedly missing their Yorker sensation, Jasprit Bumrah, to shine, as his job is to contain the runs and grab at least 3-4 wickets, as his 24 balls are very much decisive for MI.
MI has to make sure that they are scoring runs at a good rate in the middle overs phase. They just can’t score at 5-6 runs per over and expect to be victorious. All in all, MI needs to change its approach as they need to be fearless.
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Pat Cummins, the Wrecker in Chief
The unexpected hero for KKR was Pat Cummins, as he played a match-winning knock. He made a statement that he could go for sixes but also hammer the bowler while at the crease.
Cummins has had the habit of scoring a cameo, which makes him a handy batter. Overall, there is another dangerous batter present other than Andre Russell, as now KKR has got 2 dangerous finishers present.
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