Rohit leads; MI beat Kolkata

KKR made one changes to their playing eleven – Laxmi Ratan Shukla made way for Iqbal Abdulla.

MI made three changes to their playing (Pat)eleven – Ricky Ponting, Jasprit Bumrah, and Munaf made way for Mitchell Johnson, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Pragyan Ojha.

On winning the toss, Gautam Gambhir, KKR’s skipper, chose to bat.

There was an interruption due to rain at the start of play.

Therefore, the ground was wet.

The first Powerplay of KKR’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 61, and lost a wicket.

Yusuf Pathan, whose six-ball innings included three boundaries and a six, scored 19. Eight balls into the match, he was caught by Harbhajan Singh. Johnson broke the 27-run stand.

KKR scored 50 off 4.1 overs (26 balls). MI had conceded a couple of extras at that point.

Gambhir, whose 20-ball innings included a couple of boundaries and a six, scored 26. Forty-one balls after Yusuf’s dismissal, he was caught by Harbhajan. Pragyan broke the run-a-ball stand.

Jacques Kallis, whose 38-ball innings included four boundaries, scored 37. Twenty-two balls later, he was caught by Rohit Sharma, MI’s skipper. Pragyan broke the 24-run stand.

KKR scored 100 off 12.5 overs (78 balls). MI had conceded three extras at that point.

The fourth-wicket pair put on 50 off 36 balls. While Manoj Tiwary’s contribution to the partnership was 20, Eoin Morgan’s contribution to it was 27. Extras’ contribution to the partnership was three.

Morgan, whose 25-ball innings included four boundaries and a six, eventually scored 31. Thirty-eight balls after Kallis’ dismissal, he was caught by Rohit. Johnson broke the 54-run partnership.

KKR scored 150 off 18.1 overs (110 balls). MI had conceded five extras at that point.

Manoj, whose 24-ball innings included a couple of boundaries and a six, eventually scored (Lasi)thirty-three. Ten balls after Morgan’s dismissal, Malinga broke the 12-run stand.

Although his innings included a boundary, Debabrata Das had no reason to be in seventh heaven – he scored half-a-dozen. A couple of balls later, Malinga broke the one-run stand.

Rajat Bhatia, who faced a ball, scored a run. He was unbeaten.

MI eventually conceded half-a-dozen extras at that point. KKR scored 159 for the loss of half-a-dozen extras at that point.

Harbhajan and Kieron Pollard bowled a couple of overs apiece. While the former conceded 35, the latter conceded 24. They were wicketless, as was Chahal, who bowled four overs, conceding 34.

Johnson, Malinga and Pragyan bowled four overs each, picking up a couple of scalps apiece. They conceded 26, 25, and 21, respectively.

The first Powerplay of MI’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 42, and lost a wicket.

Tendulkar turned 40 on the day of the match, but he had no reason to be celebrate – he faced half-a-dozen balls, scoring just a couple. Twenty-N(ar)ine ballS(ach)into the chase, Sunil broke the run-a-ball stand.

MI scored 50 off 6.4 overs (40 balls). KKR had conceded four extras at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of extras they eventually conceded.

Although his six-ball innings included a boundary, Dinesh Karthik had no reason to be in seventh heaven – 18 balls after Tendulkar’s dismissal, he was trapped leg before wicket by Sachithra Senanayake, who broke the 35-run stand.

Dwayne Smith, the player of the match, scored 50 off 34 balls, which included three boundaries and four sixes.

He eventually scored 62 off 45 balls, which included the aforementioned number of boundaries, in addition to five sixes. Nineteen balls after Dinesh’s dismissal, he was caught by the substitute, Brendon McCullum. Narine broke the 18-run stand.

MI scored 100 off 13 overs (78 balls).

The fourth-wicket pair put on 50 off 34 balls. While Rohit’s contribution to the partnership was 27, Pollard’s contribution to it was 23. Extras didn’t contribute to the partnership.

Rohit, whose 28-ball innings included a boundary and a couple of sixes, eventually scored 34. Half-a-dozen overs after Dwayne’s dismissal, he was caught by Narine, who broke the 50-run partnership.

MI scored 150 off 19 overs (114 balls).

Pollard, whose 24-ball innings included a couple of boundaries and a six, eventually scored 33. Thirteen balls after Rohit’s dismissal, he was caught by Manoj. Bhatia broke the 18-run stand.

Ambati Rayudu, whose eight-ball innings included a boundary, scored 13. He was unbeaten, as was Harbhajan, who had a reason to be in seventh heaven – his two-ball innings included a six.

MI, who scored 162 for the loss of five wickets off 19.5 overs, won by five wickets with a ball to spare.

Abdulla and Lakshmipathy Balaji bowled four wicketless overs apiece. While the former conceded 35, the latter conceded 24.

Bhatia, who bowled 3.5 overs, conceded 32. He picked up a wicket, as did Senanayake, who bowled four overs, conceding 50.

Narine, who bowled four overs, conceded 17. He picked up three scalps.