OverPitched
MUMBAI: Mumbai Indians were in command as Kolkata Knight Riders were reduced to 96/6 in 16 overs at Wankhede Stadium.
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After a poor start, Gautam Gambhir and Manoj Tiwary tried to rescue the side but both batsmen failed to make it big and were dismissed after their steady show.
Kolkata got off to a dismal start as RP Singh trapped Brendon McCullum (1) leg before wickets and bowled out Jacques Kallis (0) in consecutive deliveries of the second over of the match.
Mumbai medium pacer Kieron Pollard struck to end skipper Gautam Gambhir’s challenge, giving Kolkata Knight Riders third blow at the score of 44 in ninth over.
Gambhir scored 28 and tried to rescue his side from early blows but he failed to make it big and was bowled out by Pollard.
Shakib Al Hasan was the fourth batsman to fall in the 14th over. Hasan’s dismissal was followed by quick wickets of Manoj Tiwary and Debabrata Das.
Mumbai Indians skipper Harbhajan Singh won the toss and elected to bowl against Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL clash at the Wankhede stadium on Wednesday.
While Mumbai field an unchanged side, Kolkata replaced Marchant de Lange and Laxmi Ratan Shukla with Shakib Al Hasan and Iqbal Abdulla.
While Mumbai have gone from strength to strength in their last two ties, Kolkata have suffered reversals. First at the hands of Mumbai and then, more painfully, at the hands of Chennai, losing to a last-ball six on Monday night.
Gambhir did exude confidence, saying his team is confident of turning things around to go up on the points tally, but pushing Mumbai down appears much more difficult now given the side’s current form, thanks to sterling performances by Ambati Rayudu, Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard.
Not to forget, South African maverick Herschelle Gibbs, who scored a glittering 66 in his first appearance in IPL 5 (he’s played just two games thus far) and the finishing and hitting skills of Dwayne Smith. Mumbai certainly appear to have the edge.
Kolkata: Gautam Gambhir, Brendon McCullum, Jacques Kallis, MK Tiwary, YK Pathan, DB Das, Shakib Al Hasan, R Bhatia, SP Narine, L Balaji, Iqbal Abdulla
Mumbai: Herschelle Gibbs, Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Ambati Rayudu, DR Smith, KA Pollard, Harbhajan Singh*, SL Malinga, RP Singh, MM Patel
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