IPL 8 KKR v MI Highlights: Gambhir-Yadav Flatten Mumbai, Hand 7-wicket win to Kolkata
Kolkata Knight Riders beat Mumbai Indians by 7 wickets in the opening game of the IPL at Eden Gardens. A half century from captain Gambhir and a flamboyant 46 not out from Suryakumar Yadav saw KKR stroll past Mumbai Indians. Rohit Sharma and Corey Anderson rode their luck to lift Mumbai Indians to 168/3 after an initial collapse. Catch all the highlights of the match here.
Kolkata Knight Riders beat Mumbai Indians by 7-wickets in the opening game of the eighth edition of the IPL. Kolkata Knight Riders won the toss, elected to bowl and got off to a dream start. With 37/3, Mumbai Indians were reeling in the opening encounter at Eden Gardens. However, an unbeaten partnership of 131 between skipper Rohit Sharma and Corey Anderson deflated Gautam Gambhir's men to post a competitive 168/3. While Sharma was unbeaten on 98, Anderson smashed his way to a 41-ball 55.
KKR lost Robin Uthappa early but a fifty from skipper Gautam Gambhir and a solid forty from Manish Pandey steadied the ship. However, it was the young Suryakumar Yadav who finished off the game for the Kolkata franchise with a breath-taking 46 not out of just 20 deliveries.
Catch all the highlights here: (LIVE SCORECARD/SCHEDULE/PHOTOS)
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"We were 10-15 runs short, but we should have done a little better with the ball. " - Rohit Sharma
"It was a tough chase, and the way we chased showed we were deserving winners" : Gambhir
"It's fantastic to be back here in front of an awesome crowd": Morne Morkel, Man of the Match
23:15 (IST): FOUR! That's it! Surya Yadav creams the ball through covers to hand KKR a win in the inaugural game. What a start for the defending champions.
23:12 (IST): SIX! Surya Yadav on a roll. 42 off just 19 balls - he's whacking the Mumbai bowlers into the orbit! Another one vanishes over the long on boundary.
23:08 (IST): SIX again! This time Yusuf Pathan swats Bumrah over mid wicket. This is all over for Mumbai Indians now!
23:06 (IST): SIX more! Bumrah hits Yadav on the helmet and then Yadav flicks it over long on. What a terrific shot from the young man!
23:05 (IST): SIX! That sounded nice. Width on offer and Surya Yadav clouts it over wide long off.
23:00 (IST): Good over from Malinga. Just two runs off it. 39 required off 24 balls now. Is there a twist in the tail? Or will KKR cruise through?
22:54 (IST): OUT! Gambhir falls for 57. Bumrah with the wicket. Too late for Mumbai? KKR 129/3 after 15 overs
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22:48 (IST): FIFTY for Gautam Gambhir! 24th IPL fifty for the KKR captain.
22:42 (IST): SIX! WHAT.A.SHOT! Surya Yadav walks in and flicks the second ball over square leg. Such nonchalance from the young man, they don't call him the 'Indian' AB for nothing!
22:41(IST) : OUT! Manish Pandey holes out to Pollard at long on off Harbhajan for 40 (24). KKR 98/2 after 12 overs.
22:33 (IST): SIX! That's just a gift. Full toss on leg stump from Malinga and Pandey just slots it over deep square leg. It's all going wrong for Mumbai. Rohit Sharma needs to find some inspiration, right now.
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22:30 (IST): FOUR! Classic Gambhir now, charges down and plays it inside out over covers. Harbhajan Singh all over the place with his lengths. KKR 85/1 after 10 overs.
22:28 (IST): Dropped! Third one of the night! Anderson misjudges the shot completely, walks in too far and then ends up leaping for the ball. Respite for Pandey but Mumbai would be hurting now.
22:25 (IST): SIX! Short from Ojha. Manish Pandey rocks back and puts that into the crowd behind mid-wicket! This is bad bowling from Mumbai. Not hitting the correct lengths and being punished.
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22:20 (IST): FOUR and FOUR! Ordinary start for Harbhajan Singh. Easy stuff this for Gambhir, just rocking back and picking off boundaries.
22:16 (IST): SIX! Gambhir dances down the track and deposits Ojha over the mid wicket fence. Class shot from the KKR captain. KKR 49/1 after 7 overs. In the meantime, here's a nice piece of stat - Rohit Sharma became the second batsman to manage 3000 runs or more in the IPL - the first being Suresh Raina - 3325 (ave.35.75) in 115 matches.
22:12 (IST): Pandey looks in fine touch here. Middling the ball, picking up the singles and hitting the odd boundary. KKR need him to stay put and see the chase through.
22:09 (IST): KP is certainly missing the IPL. KKR 32/1 after 5 overs
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22:06 (IST): SIX! Manish Pandey goes down on his left knee and whacks Anderson over his head. Such audacity!
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22:00 (IST): OUT! Uthappa departs. Edges Anderson to slip as Harbhajan hangs on to it. KKR 13/1 after 2.5 overs
21:57 (IST): Dropped! Another chance goes begging. Uthappa hits it back to Anderson and the left-armer just couldn't hang on to it. Tough change but had to be taken!
21:56 (IST): SIX! Robin Uthappa gets into his stride. Flicks Anderson over square-leg for maximum.
21:55 (IST): Outside edge and dropped! Difficult chance! Vinay Kumar pushes that ball across Gambhir and the KKR captain follows it. Tare dives full length but fails to hold on. How costly will that be?
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21:51 (IST): Bang! Bat broken!!! Vinay Kumar comes on, Gambhir charges down the track, hits the ball and the bat breaks into two pieces! Whoa!
21:50 (IST): Good first over from Malinga. Accurate as usual but there some swing for the Sri Lankan as well.
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21:24 (IST): SIX more! Anderson blasts Shakib over wide mid-on. What a finish to the innings! MI ends with 168/3 after 20 overs with Rohit Sharma not out on 98 and Anderson unbeaten on 55.
21:23 (IST): FOUR! Sharma moves to 97. Squeezes the yorker over point, somehow!
21:22 (IST): Shakib comes on to bowl the last over and sails over mid wicket for a SIX! Anderson is going berserk!
21:20 (IST): Rohit Sharma nearing his second IPL hundred. Incidentally, his only IPL hundred is also against KKR. MI 148/3 after 19 overs.
21:18 (IST): SIX! Anderson makes room and launches Russell over long-off. KKR bleeding runs now.
21:15 (IST): FOUR! Anderson clubs Shakib over long off. The big Kiwi is cutting loose. MI 133/3 after 18 overs.
21:13 (IST): FOUR! SIX! Rohit Sharma is tearing Narine apart. Remember the last time he batted at Eden Gardens, he scored a double hundred against the West Indies.
21:11 (IST): Dropped! That could have been a stumping as well! Sharma dances down the track and Robin Uthappa fails to gather.
21:05 (IST): Dropped! Andre Russell drops a sitter at square leg. Anderson might be a costly miss. MI 109/3 after 16 overs.
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21:01 (IST): FOUR! That's brings up Rohit's 22nd IPL fifty. FOUR, FOUR, SIX, FOUR! Rohit is turning it on now. Umesh Yadav on the receiving end. 100 up for Mumbai.
21:00 (IST): Mumbai needs a move on. With Pollard waiting in the wings and six overs to go, Anderson might just go for the big ones.
20:55 (IST): FOUR! Chawla spoils another over by dropping the last ball short. Anderson rocks back and pulls it in front of mid on. MI 76/3 after 13 overs.
20:52 (IST): "Sachin and I have shared a lot of stories and had a few laughs", says Ricky Ponting, the MI coach.
20:50 (IST): FOUR! Chawla drops it short outside off and Anderson throws his bat at that one. MI 66/3 after 11 overs
20:45 (IST): Rohit Sharma is playing a sensible knock here. Pushing the singles, keeping the scoreboard moving, setting himself up for a big one. We all know what he can do in the end overs.
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20:38 (IST): 4-1-18-2 What a spell from Morkel first up! This man was in sensational form in the World Cup and he continues to trouble the batsmen in IPL as well. MI 54/3 after 9 overs
20:35 (IST): FOUR! Width from Morkel and Anderson latches on to that.
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20:30 (IST): FOUR! What a welcome to the 'mystery' spinner! Full toss outside off stump and Rohit thrashes it through covers. Corey Anderson has joined the MI captain in the middle as Sunil Narine comes on.
20:25 (IST): BACK TO BACK WICKETS! First Shakib out foxes Tare and now Morkel bounces Rayudu for a duck. Mumbai rattled. MI 37/3 after 5.3 overs.
20:20 (IST): Spin into the action. Shakib comes on early.
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20:15 (IST): FOUR! Now Tare joins in. Goes on to the back-foot and slaps that through cover point. Wasn't a bad delivery but a super shot!
20:11 (IST): FOUR! Cracking cover drive from Rohit Sharma. Just a hint of out-swing and Sharma caresses it through covers.
20:05 (IST): OUT! Morkel strikes! Finch tries a short arm jab, top edges and finds Yadav at fine leg. Not the start MI wanted! MI 8/2 after 2 overs.
20:01 (IST): Umesh Yadav steams in and put the first ball on a good length. Sharma defends with the full face of his bat. His partner Aaron Finch has been bought by the Mumbai franchise in this year's auctions.
20:00 (IST): The umpires walk out. The openers Aaron Finch and Rohit Sharma walk out. Fasten your seat belts, IPL 8 is about to take-off!
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KKR XI: G Gambhir, R Uthappa, M Pandey, S Yadav, Y Pathan, S Al Hasan, A Russell, P Chawla, S Narine, U Yadav, M Morkel
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MI XI: RG Sharma, A Finch, A Rayudu, A Tare, C Anderson, K Pollard, H Singh, L Malinga, V Kumar, J Bumrah, P Ojha
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19:35 (IST): Gambhir - "It's a fresh pitch. Really don't know what it will do. The weather has been a little unpredictable over the last couple of days."
Rohit: "Would have batted first so, losing toss doesn't matter. Have good memories of Eden Gardens as a team and personally so, looking forward to a good game."
And by the way, Ravi Shastri is back behind the mike, doing what he does best - "Ami ese gechi Kolkata!"
19:30 (IST): Toss time! Kolkata Knight Riders win the toss and will bowl first! Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Morne Morkel and Shakib Al Hassan are the four overseas players for KKR. Aaron Finch, Corey Anderson, Kieron Pollard and Lasith Malinga are Mumbai's choice of foreign players.
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19:20 (IST): The on-field battle is about to start but the war of words has already begun.
"Kolkata Knight Riders don't rely on slow wickets to win games. If we play to our best, we will be very tough to beat" - Gautam Gambhir
"We have had very good memories of Kolkata. We won the championship there. We understand the conditions there very well. Am sure the guys can exploit the conditions well." - Rohit Sharma
19:11 (IST): Here's MI's squad - Rohit Sharma (c),Corey Anderson, Aiden Blizzard, Jasprit Bumrah, Unmukt Chand, Marchant de Lange, Aaron Finch, Shreyas Gopal, Harbhajan Singh, Josh Hazlewood, Siddhesh Lad, Mitchell McClenaghan, Lasith Malinga, Abhimanyu Mithun, Pragyan Ojha, Hardik Pandya, Parthiv Patel (wk), Kieron Pollard, Nitish Rana, Ambati Rayudu (wk), Lendl Simmons, Jagadeesha Suchith, Pawan Suyal, Aditya Tare (wk), Vinay Kumar, Akshay Wakhare . (Know Your Team: Mumbai Indians)
19:10 (IST): Here's KKR's squad - Gautam Gambhir (c), Azhar Mahmood, Johan Botha, KC Cariappa, Piyush Chawla, Pat Cummins, Aditya Garhwal, Brad Hogg, Sheldon Jackson, Kuldeep Yadav, Morne Morkel, Sunil Narine, Sumit Narwal, Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Veer Pratap Singh, Vaibhav Rawal, Andre Russell, Shakib Al Hasan, Ryan ten Doeschate, Robin Uthappa, Suryakumar Yadav, Umesh Yadav (Know Your Team: KKR)
19:05 (IST): The first game is billed to be a blockbuster but the biggest point of interest in this game would be Sunil Narine. The West Indian 'mystery' spinner has been a pillar in KKR's success over the years and it will be interesting to see how he bowls with a remodelled action!
19:00 (IST): Lights, Camera, Action - IPL 8 is back! Another new season of the Indian T20 extravaganza is upon us and at Eden Gardens defending champions KKR takes on MI. The opening ceremony was marred by rain but hopefully, the rain gods would be merciful on the tournament opener.
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Kolkata Knight Riders will have to swear by KORBO, LORBO, JITBO to strike a purple patch and improve their win-loss ratio against Mumbai Indians. The IPL champions have the quality and depth to match Mumbai Indians, whose support staff looks more luxuriant than the team itself. (WATCH: KKR the Best in IPL, says Dean Jones)
With Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Robin Singh part of Mumbai's team management, Rohit Sharma couldn't have asked for better guidance, but in the T20 format, where luck plays a critical part, punditry can often be hit for a six. (Sachin Tendulkar Takes Centrestage at Eden Gardens)
Kolkata and Mumbai have played 14 times, the same number of matches Gautam Gambhir's team went unbeaten last season (IPL and Champions League T20 combined). At Eden Gardens on Wednesday night, KKR will fancy their chances on what is normally a slow track. The rains this week too will not encourage stroke-making.
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KKR have the bowling to trouble Mumbai's free-stroking batsmen. Therefore, Sunil Narine, who skipped the World Cup, will aim to make his presence felt after weeks of introspection on his action. Gambhir is clearly relying on his West Indian asset.
"I have always maintained that even if he (Sunil Narine) bowls a straight ball, it is always going to be an advantage -- that's the kind of aura and that's the kind of threat he has had on the opposition throughout the last three years," Gambhir said. (Narine is Gambhir's Main Weapon)
The IPL, every season, has thrown up new faces. KKR have a couple of 'mysteries' up their sleeves with KC Cariappa and Kuldeep Yadav potentially capable of spinning yarns around batsmen.
Given this is going to be the tournament opener, both KKR and MI are expected to tread on tested lines and shun the extravagance that can cost two good points in a long-drawn league.