BIRTHDAY BLUES: Sachin Tendulkar is bowled by Kolkata Knight Riders spinner Sunil Narine. The batting maestro, who celebrated his 40th birthday yesterday, could score just 2. (AFP)
Agencies/Kolkata
Mumbai Indians beat the Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets in a thriller at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata yesterday. Ambati Rayudu (13*) hit the winning runs for Mumbai and was unbeaten at the crease along with Harbhajan Singh (7*), whose six on the third ball of the last over set the tone for an emphatic win for the visitors.
The match seemed to be heading in Kolkata’s favour as Mumbai lost wickets at regular intervals when Sunil Narine struck again to get rid of dangerous Dwayne Smith (62). Smith raced to his fifty in just 34 balls, in the 11th over as the hosts rocked the Mumbai run chase. Smith was in his element as he smashed five maximums and three boundaries in his quickfire 45-ball innings.
Soon after, Narine dismissed Rohit Sharma (34) after the West Indian caught the stand-in Mumbai skipper of off his own bowling to bring the Knight Riders back into winning contention.
Spinner Sachithra Senanayake dismissed the in-form Dinesh Karthik (7) to give the hosts a crucial breakthrough as Mumbai were reduced to 64-2 in 7.5 overs. Narine struck in his first over to dismiss ‘birthday boy’ Sachin Tendulkar (2) cheaply and reduced Mumbai to 29-1 in 4.5 overs.
Earlier, electing to bat first, Kolkata batsmen managed 159-6. KKR raced to fifty in just 4.1 overs, but failed to capitalise on the initial momentum set by their openers in the latter stages. Lasith Malinga struck twice in the final over, conceding just 3 runs, to halt the hosts’ final charge. Malinga dismissed Manoj Tiwary (33) and Debabrata Das (6) to finish his spell with 2-25 in four overs.
Tiwary put on a 54-run stand with Eoin Morgan (31) for the fourth wicket to lead the Knight Riders’ fightback. Tiwary hit a six and two fours before Malinga clean bowled him in the final over.
Morgan (31) became Mitchell Johnson's second victim in the 18th over after a decent stand with Tiwary as KKR raced to 150 in 18.1 overs. Morgan smashed a six and four boundaries in his quickfire 25-ball knock.
Scoreboard
Kolkata Knight Riders
Y Pathan c Harbhajan b Johnson 19
G Gambhir c Harbhajan b Ojha 26
J Kallis c Sharma b Ojha 37
M Tiwary b Malinga 33
E Morgan c Sharma b Johnson 31
D Das b Malinga 6
R Bhatia (not out) 1
Extras (b-1, lb-3, w-1, nb-1) 6
Total (6 wickets; 20 overs) 159
Fall of wickets: 1-27 (Pathan), 2-68 (Gambhir), 3-92 (Kallis), 4-146 (Morgan), 5-158 (Tiwary), 6-159 (Das)
Bowling: Harbhajan Singh 2-0-35-0, M Johnson 4-0-26-2, L Malinga 4-0-25-2, P Ojha 4-0-21-2, K Pollard 2-0-14-0, Y Chahal 4-0-34-0
Mumbai Indians
D Smith c sub (McCullum) b Narine 62
S Tendulkar b Narine 2
D Karthik lbw Senanayake 7
R Sharma c & b Narine 34
K Pollard c Tiwary b Bhatia 33
A Rayudu (not out) 13
Harbhajan Singh (not out) 7
Extras (lb-4) 4
Total (5 wickets; 19.5 overs) 162
Fall of wickets: 1-29 (Tendulkar), 2-64 (Karthik), 3-82 (Smith), 4-132 (Sharma), 5-150 (Pollard)
Bowling: L Balaji 4-0-24-0, Iqbal Abdulla 4-0-35-0, S Narine 4-0-17-3, S Senanayake 4-0-50-1, R Bhatia 3.5-0-32-1