Pune, April 6 : Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma’s 83-run partnership and the last-over blast of Kieron Pollard propelled Mumbai Indians to a competitive score of 161/4 against Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League (IPL) match at MCA Stadium here on Wednesday. Pollard pulverised Pat Cummins in the final over of the innings, garnering 23 runs by smashing three sixes. He remained unbeaten with a quickfire 22 off just five balls. Kolkata bowlers led by seasoned campaigner Umesh Yadav completely dominated the powerplay as the runs were not easy to come by for Mumbai. Put into bat, Mumbai kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and it was due to Suryakumar (52 off 36 balls) and Tilak’s unbeaten 38 off 27 balls that they could post a score of more than run-a-ball. Kolkata bowlers were too good early on as they made it difficult for Mumbai top-order batters to find runs. Rohit Sharma (3) fell early to Umesh, and his companion Rasikh Salam hardly gave anything away in the first two overs. Dewald Brevis walked in and showcased why he is called ‘Baby AB’ before he was sent back to the hut by Varun Chakravarthy in the eighth over. He dazzled spectators, reminding them of AB de Villiers’ style of cricket as he smashed 29 off 19 balls. Soon after Ishan Kishan (14 off 21) was removed by Cummins, who is playing his first match of the season in place of Tim Southee.
UNI
