IPL 2017, Highlights, MI vs KKR, 2nd Qualifier in Bengaluru: Krunal Pandya's 45 not out guides Mumbai into final

Mumbai Indians defeating a team thrice in an IPL season:

2013 – Chennai Super Kings 
2015 – Chennai Super Kings 
2017 – KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS*

Karn Sharma receives the Man of the Match award for his brilliant bowling. He took four wickets – Sunil Narine, Gautam Gambhir, Ishank Jaggi and Colin de Grandhomme – and conceded 16 runs only in his quota of 4 overs.

Mumbai Indians were the only team to win an IPL title after losing the first qualifier match. They did it in 2013. Will they repeat it in 2017?

Most IPL finals for teams:

6 – Chennai Super Kings  
4 – Mumbai Indians*
2 – Kolkata Knight Riders 

Captains to play most IPL finals:
6 – MS Dhoni 
3 – ROHIT SHARMA*
2 – Gautam Gambhir

Most consecutive wins against Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL:

6 – MUMBAI INDIANS (14/05/2015 to 19/05/2017)*
5 – Mumbai Indians (29/04/2008 to 22/03/2010)

Okay,  that’s that. KKR absolutely destroyed by Mumbai Indians. The 16th win for Mumbai over KKR. Mumbai are off to the final to face their nemesis Rising Pune Supergiant. Difficult to explain what happens to Kolkata everytime they are up against Mumbai.  It has to be psychological… a mental block of sorts. KKR had had some great performances this season,  but their campaign has ended with a whimper.

MI are into the finals. They will face their Maharashtra rivals for the fourth time this season having lost on three previous occasions. 108 was never going to be a challenge for them and Rohit spent enough time in the middle to blunt out KKR’s attack. Thankfully rains stayed away tonight and we managed to get a full game.

After 14.3 Overs, Mumbai Indians 111/4 ( Krunal Pandya 45 , Kieron Pollard 9)

Umesh Yadav — and he starts with a wild wide down the leg side. Mentally cramping up, KKR bowlers; they have nothing here to bowl to and it shows. Insiwnging yorker as he rebowls that, Pollard pushes to point, single.

Umesh to Krunal, quick, full, Krunal whips it to the on but finds the fielder.  

No fairy tale for KKR, then. Umesh bounces, Krunal slashes, thick top edge eludes the diving third man and finds the boundary, MI seal the finals spot with 6 wickets and 5.3 overs in hand.

Nothing of interest about this game, finally — once KKR lost its first five wickets for very little, there was little hope of a revival; Mumbai finished the chase clinically, and will now play Rising Pune Supergiant on Sunday in the 2017 IPL final.

​

That’s it! Mumbai Indians win by 6 wickets. A comprehensive win and they romp into the final to meet RPS!

After 14 overs,Mumbai Indians 105/4 ( Krunal Pandya 41 , Kieron Pollard 8)

Rajpoot into the attack, to Krunal who works him off his pads to the on side for a single, brings the ask down to 16. Rajpoot bounces — Pollard, who is not the best against a lifting ball, hooks awkwardly but manages to pull it down near the square leg umpire; Colin de Grandhomme makes a mess of it on the square leg boundary, gives four where there was one at best. And Rajpoot bowls a wide next up. 

Pollard goes deep in the crease and swings at the next one, gets the thick bottom edge out to deep square, gets one more. Rajpoot now to Krunal, around the wicket and what a loveluy shot — waits for it to bounce, then taps it down to third man. Umesh does brilliantly, running around the boundary, dives, fields, keeps from touching the line, gives away just one. And Rajpoot loses control of the next ball — looked for the yorker, bowled it well outside the white wide line outside off going even further. Um.

Tries the yorker again, ends up with a full toss into Pollard’s knee, swatted away to square leg for a single. Last ball, to Krunal who steps froward, takes it on the half volley, smacks a crisp off drive, beats the fielder, finds the fence.

Mumbai need just three more now.

Rohit Sharma hits one straight down the throat of square leg. But it is all too late for KKR now one feels. ‘Pollard Pollard’ chants even before the West Indian gladiator came out to join Krunal Pandya, which reach a crescendo once he appears on the field.

After 13 overs,Mumbai Indians 91/4 ( Krunal Pandya 35 , Kieron Pollard 2)

Nathan Coulter Nile resumes. No more spin tonight, both spinners have bowled out, that was Gambhir’s last gamble and it didn’t work out.

Ball two, wicket:  Rohit comes dancing down the wicket, NCN drags it short, Rohit mishits, in the air and straight to the fielder at deep midwicket, that was a silly shot to play and he picked out Rajpoot with it to perfection. The thing about it is, the ball was short enough that Rohit would likely have cleared the field if he had waited on the back foot for it. Walks off looking pissed with himself, which is fair enough, that was his fault.

Kieron Pollard comes out to the middle. NCN goes around the wicket to Krunal, who crossed while that Rohit hit was in the air. Drive into the covers, single. NCN back over the wicket, to Pollard — quick, outside off, Pollard lets it go.

Short ball next, angling into the body, Pollard plays with the angle, gets two behind square leg, the ask now 17. NCN, the last ball, lifts from length outside off, Pollard has a jab at it, with feet, head, bat all all over the place, lucky not to nick off. Uthappa tries out an appeal, but that is more to see if his voice is okay — no touch there.

Needless from Rohit. He could have let Krunal take those risks and go for the aerial shots. His presence in the middle would have been enough to deflate KKR’s hopes. They have a sniff now however mild it might be. Rohit probably relaxed a bit after seeing off the threat from KKR’s spinners.

OUT! A needless shot from Mumbai’s captain. NCN bowls it short and Rohit waits for the ball and pulls it away. He wanted to play it more fine but it went square and into the hands of Ankit Rajpoot at deep square leg. He departs for 26.

The move to send Krunal Pandya up the order has worked for Mumbai Indians. He came in at a demanding situation, but has played smartly. Targeted the bowlers and chose his areas brilliantly. Mumbai 88/3 after 12 overs.

After 12 overs,Mumbai Indians 88/3 ( Rohit Sharma (C) 26 , Krunal Pandya 34)

Krunal takes narine, like Piyush bowling his last over here. Outside off and superb stroke that, Krunal goes well back in his crease, lets it turn, lets Uthappa almost grab it, and then plays the late cut almost out of the keeper’s gloves, to the backward point boundary, four off the first ball. Awkward forward defensive push next up, again not reading the turn, but he is safe. And in contrast, to the third ball, comes dancing down to the pitch with a leg side bias, makes room and nails the inside out drive, up and over, finds four to wide long off. Then gets all tangled up trying to defend to a ball on leg turning in to him. What an over this is — clumsy defence, great shot, clumsy defence, and so on. The last ball, equally uncontrolled defensive push, thick outer edge, but safe — cover is well in but not close enough to make something of it. Mumbai now 20 short of a finals place.

Rohit Sharma becomes the second player after Suresh Raina to score 300 runs in all 10 seasons of IPL. 

The wheels are coming off KKR now. Rohit is seeing them well here and Krunal isn’t too far behind. He has been a real find for MI over the last two seasons. Reliable with the bat and the ball. This has been a measured inning from Pandya. He hasn’t looked rushed at all, just picking his spots on the ground without trying to overhit the ball which is a hard thing to do on this track.

Only a matter of time before this match gets done and dusted. KKR have been thoroughly outplayed. If MI loses from here it would have to be a collapse of unimaginable proportions. Don’t see that happening though. Meanwhile the ‘RCB RCB’ chants continue and some children around me are distorting the chants in any which way possible.

After 11 overs,Mumbai Indians 80/3 ( Rohit Sharma (C) 26 , Krunal Pandya 26)

Gambhir needs wickets, so decides to bowl Piyush out. The bowler floats one up on fourth stump, Rohit winds up and drives, gets the bottom of the bat on that, and single to long off. 

Krunal takes a big step out to Piyush’s next ball. No problem with spin this time, he is to the pitch and Krunal crashes it to the long off boundary. Next ball, winds up and smacks it on the other side, down on his knee to get under it. Umesh Yadav runs around at long on, dives, but can’t get a hand to it, four more.

Back to back boundaries, then a single off the thick outside edge to point. Rohit jumps back in his crease to defend to a quicker ball, full length, going straight through — good deception, that looked like a leg break but hustled in.

And now Chawla floats it up, outside off, Rohit goes down on one knee, gets under the ball, plays the hoist perfectly, high, and long, and deep into the stands behind long on. Expensive over, and at the end of it all, MI just 28 short with 9 overs to get them in. One thing for sure, this game won’t keep us all up till 1.30.

Rohit Sharma now holds the record of scoring most runs against Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL. He went past Suresh Raina’s record of 701 runs against Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL.

This Bangalore pitch has been a little disappointing this season. Some have attributed the slowness to the newly laid drainage system. Sunil Narine is continuing after the strategic break. He needs to pick wickets here, his usual restrictive lines aren’t going to do the job here. MI will be happy to see the spinners off. At some point, Gambhir will have to put more fielders in catching positions to put pressure on MI batsmen. They are milking these remaining runs with ease here.

KKR at the end of 10 overs were 43/5 and Mumbai are 64 at the loss three wickets. They need 44 runs off 60 balls which should be comfortable. Rohit not showing any urgency, taking his sweet time while Krunal is taking those odd risks successfully.

After 10 overs,Mumbai Indians 64/3 ( Rohit Sharma (C) 19 , Krunal Pandya 17)

Narine resumes, starts with one short and straight on a fifth stump line and Rohit smacks it to deep point off the back foot, single. 

Krunal seems uncertain which way the ball is turning, against both Piyush and Narine, reading it off the pitch rather than the hand, but does well when Narine pitches short, guides it to third man and gets one. Narine beats Rohit with the one straightening, Rohit lucky to get enough of bat onto it before pad to save the LBW. Shorter length next up so Rohit stays back, lets it turn in, and plays it out on the on for one.

Krunal again misreads a ball floated up on off on a very full length, his defensive jab is late, and awkward, but good enough to keep it out of the stumps. Ends the 10th over; MI in control at the halfway mark of their innings.

And the kite comes again. This time it seems to have caught a rodent. A big cheer from the crowd as the predator flies away with its prey. I am reminded of the Hero Cup way back in 1993 when a mongoose was a regular visitor at the Eden Gardens during the semifinal and final. Even Sachin Tendulkar who was playing those matches had said in a recent interview that the mongoose brought good luck for India. If one remembers, India won a thriller against South Africa in the semifinal before disposing of Richie Richardson’s formidable West Indies in the final. Can the Bangalore kite be a good luck charm for KKR?

After 9 overs,Mumbai Indians 61/3 ( Rohit Sharma (C) 17 , Krunal Pandya 16)

58 more for MI to get. 72 balls to get them in. Chawla continues. And meanwhile, a view of the KKR dug out reminds you of who is not playing — Kuldeep Yadav, who would have been handy on this track.

Chawla floats one up on line of fourth stump and that is vintage Rohit — eases onto the front foot, smothers the spin on the cover drive, nails the shot to perfection and eases it to the fence.

The next ball is the wrong ‘un and Rohit plays the wrong line, not reading it at all, lucky to get an inside edge for a single behind his back on the on side. Piyush bowling well here, mixing up his leg breaks and googlies — bowls one to Krunal, who doesn’t read it, but manages to put bat to ball.

But then the bowler errs — floats one on length outside leg stump. Would have been a wide, but Krunal down on his knee sweeping, gets over the ball, hits it down into the ground off the edge, finds four to fine leg. Piyush compensates, bowling outside off and Krunal off the back foot forces the single to deep point. Last ball of Piyush’s third over, Rohit down the track, doesn’t get to the pitch, adjusts, and plays the single out on the on. 61/3, 47 to get in 66 balls and that is the time out called.

MI will feel comfortable as long as Rohit Sharma is out there in the middle. Runs aren’t a concern for them. Krunal Pandya has impressed with his temperament in the past. He is keeping his captain good company. Run scoring will be easy while he is around. Piyush Chawla has tried a few googlies against the left-handed Pandya already but hasn’t got his radar right and has gone for runs.

Mumbai have sent Krunal Pandya up the order to counter the spinners. He has a knack of scoring boundaries which will help incase the dots accumulate. Rohit, on the other side, is not taking risks but is making the bowlers pay for the loose balls. Mumbai 50/3 after 8 overs.

After 8 overs,Mumbai Indians 50/3 ( Rohit Sharma (C) 11 , Krunal Pandya 11)

Nathan Coulter Nile back into the attack. Short, on middle and off and Krunal plays a pull, mishits, that was quick and came on to him too quickly. In the air and lucky it didn’t go to hand. Single out on the on side brings Rohit on strike.

NCN goes wide on the crease, bowls the fuller length outside off, Rohit reaches for it and guides it for one to third man. Batting well within himself, Rohit, guiding more than hitting, and that is all he really needs to do given this ask, really. Krunal in his turn steps into a ball angled onto off and on length, drives fluidly through the off side, wide of long off, gets two for it. 

NCN round the wicket this time, and Krunal likes that angle better, goes across his stumps, takes it off his pads, single to midwicket. NCN to Rohit, short in length, he plays on the on, the ball stops on him a bit and causes the stroke to go in the air, again lucky it didn’t carry to midwicket. Single ends the over.

Rohit Sharma becomes the first player to score 3000 runs for Mumbai Indians in IPL. 

Some amusement in the crowd as a kite swoops down near the boundary and goes on a sortie around the stadium. It takes small things for people to derive joy from, doesn’t it?

After 7 overs,Mumbai Indians 44/3 ( Rohit Sharma (C) 9 , Krunal Pandya 7)

Narine to Rohit, who lets it turn and plays it off his pads down to the fine leg region — the short fine leg close catcher is off now, so Rohit can play that stroke without risk, gets two for it and follows up with a single to mid on next ball.

And for Krunal, Gambhir has two slips. Nice captaincy this. Krunal playing carefully, staying well inside his crease, letting the ball turn, playing it out on the on to keep it out of reach of the two close catchers.

Fifth ball, smart work by Krunal. Again, the line is off, but with two slips, Krunal can predict that is the line Narine will bowl. He goes down on one knee, extends the bat in front of him, plays the checked paddle to fine leg, finds four. And takes a single next ball to end the over. Intelligent batting, on that shot, nice counter to the two slips for Narine bowling the off stump line.

Think I jinxed the partnership. Piyush Chawla is on a roll in Bengaluru. Wickets are the only thing that can KKR win this match and they are taking those regularly. Rohit Sharma will have to bat through the chase. Mumbai 36/3 after 6 overs.

After 6 overs,Mumbai Indians 36/3 ( Rohit Sharma (C) 6 , Krunal Pandya 2)

Piyush Chawla comes on at the opposite end. Ball one, Rayudu plays out on the on; they run, it is a direct hit from square leg, but the batsmen are safe. Rohit plays the angle next ball, leaning forward, pushing firmly to mid on, running with the shot, gets the single.

Wicket, and this is a beauty: Rayudu had in the previous over left one dangerously close to off. This time, Chawla floats one up on line just around off; Rayudu is playing for the turn, bat down the wrong line and front foot not in line of off; the ball straightens, hits top of off, classic dismissal that, and MI are three down.

Krunal the new man. Stays deep in the crease to the first ball he faces, lets the ball turn into him, hits it out nicely on the on side to deep midwicket, gets a couple. Slip in place still, Chawla to Krunal, beautiful ball floated up around off, across the left hander; Krunal covers the line, drives, finds cover well inside the ring, no run. Superb over this from Piyush; yet another in a long list of beautiful bowling displays by wrist spinners in this IPL

The KKR bowlers are chipping away at the wickets. Rayudu out now. The only way Kolkata can win this is by taking wickets. ‘KKR KKR’ chants at the stadium now. Where were the Kolkata fans all this while? Well, they have found their voice now!

Ambati Rayudu has been dismissed by Piyush Chawla four times in IPL including today which is the joint second most times any bowler has dismissed him in IPL. Mohit Sharma has dismissed Ambati Rayudu most times (five) in IPL. 

OUT! Once bitten, twice shy. Ambati Rayudu was living on the edge against spinners. First he opted to leave a Narine delivery which was very close to the off stump. And now again, he decides to play inside the line of Chawla’s delivery. This time around though, the ball disturbs the off stump. KKR are not giving Mumbai anything easily.

After 5 overs,Mumbai Indians 32/2 ( Ambati Rayudu 5 , Rohit Sharma (C) 5)

Sunil Narine in now, replacing Umesh. Slip in place. Rohit goes back — bad idea, that was good length and turning in to him — and manages to push it out on the off. Does better next ball, stays back, lets it turn, then helps it along behind square leg, gets one.

Narine to Rayudu — and oh my god what a leave! That was outside off, turning slightly in, Rayudu covers up, lets it go, the ball flashing an inch past off stump. Slip and leg slip now in place, GG attacking despite not having too many runs to play with, or perhaps because of that — he has to take wickets out, there is no point defending this total. The fielder also checks the batsman from playing with the turn and getting one. Rayudu gets one anyway, off the last ball of the over, this time with a checked push to mid on.

Two of Mumbai’s most experienced batsmen are batting at the centre. Small totals become very tricky sometimes, a few dot balls and the batsmen look to go big. But with Rohit and Rayudu at the crease, Mumbai will know there is nothing to worry. Mumbai are 32/2 after 4 overs.

After 4 overs,Mumbai Indians 30/2 ( Ambati Rayudu 4 , Rohit Sharma (C) 4)

Nathan Coulter-Nile for the fourth over. Single to Rayudu off the first ball, Rohit to the next one, on off and on length, nicely forward and closes the bat face on a checked push out on the on side, gets two for it as that side of the field is less packed than the off.

NCN again, to Rohit, lifting around off and RS nicely on top of the bounce, drives on the up but finds cover, good fielding there, no run. Next up, short, on off, sits up for RS who pulls, controlled shot that all along the ground to midwicket, fielded on the line there and just one — that was so well hit, it got to the fielder too quickly to make a second possible. Rayudu in his turn walks across his stumps, NCN bowls wider, Rayudu gets one with the gentle calculated push to third man.

And Rohit does very well — checks a push on the off, calls and runs with the stroke, makes the single with ease before Gambhir can dash in from cover on the thirty yard line. Nice thing about this pair — they are rolling over the strike with ease. And not overhitting any shots, yet.

Rohit Sharma comes out at the fall of Parthiv’s wicket. Massive cheer for the Mumbai skipper. ‘Rohit can win this match on his own, ’ says a voice in the crowd. Difficult to disagree with him.

Rohit Sharma’s batting average of 12.31 in knockout matches in the IPL is the lowest among all the batsmen who have scored at least 100 runs.

After 3 overs,Mumbai Indians 24/2 ( Ambati Rayudu 2 , Rohit Sharma (C) 0)

Umesh again. And first up, that slanting delivery across the left-handed Parthiv Patel. Again, it is driving length and Chawla easily onto the front foot, takes it on the half volley, drives through the covers, finds the fence. That is the second picture perfect drive Parthiv has played off Umesh, who is in effect feeding his best hitting area with this length and line.

Chawla follows up with a single; Rayudu in his turn sneaks one, playing the ball just in front of point — good calling and running there, there should never have been a single, but Jaggi at point was back on his heels.

And there’s the wicket: Umesh, again slanting across the left handed Parthiv Patel, but this time the ball is on a fifth stump line and short, going further away. Patel wafts at it, a rather wide swish, beaten for the bounce off the shorter length and for pace, the ball flicks the edge and Uthappa has an easy take, the umpire an easier decision. Mumbai lose two, and you have to say this second wicket is a gift — that was a nothing slash. Rohit Sharma the new man in, plays the last ball of that over out in defense.

OUT From the very first ball, it was quite evident that Parthiv Patel was given the license to throw his bat at everything. Thus, despite hitting two boundaries off the first two deliveries, he looks to slash Umesh’s back of a length delivery over point but it takes a faint edge which Uthappa grabs quite comfortably. KKR have got the early wickets and we are in for an exciting chase!

This start by Mumbai was similar to the one they got against RPS in Mumbai. While Parthiv Patel is looking at this fluent best, Simmons struggled. He fell to an incorrect decision but his form has dipped since that fifty against Kings XI Punjab. Ambati Rayudu will have to use his experience now to ensure that this chase doesn’t become tricky. Mumbai 14/2 after 2 overs.

After 2 overs,Mumbai Indians 14/1 ( Parthiv Patel (W) 5 , Ambati Rayudu 1)

Mumbai’s bowlers weren’t just penetrating — they were incredibly disciplined. Just seven extras when they bowled, of which three were leg byes. Meanwhile, Piyush Chawla to bowl the second over. Simmons winds up and has a go at the second ball, but only manages to find mid off standing well inside the circle, no run. Piyush bowling with a short third man, point, cover, extra cover, mid off.

And there’s the wicket: Chawla bowls fuller, Simmons comes forward, the ball is the googly, Simmons plays the wrong line, hit on the pad and he is gone LBW. Not so sure; the first impression I got was, the ball was turning enough to miss the leg stump. Will update on the replay, as and when, but in any evening, MI lose the first wicket at 11.

Ambati Rayudu sent in at three. Chawla short, turning sharply but well past the leg stump, wide called. Meanwhile, the replay confirms that first impression — that ball would have missed the leg stump. Not an absolutely bad decision, but Simmons definitely unlucky; that ball was turning sharply and the batsman was well forward.

Rayudu and Chawla take singles off the last two balls of the over, three in it for the fortuitous loss of Simmons.

Mumbai were off to an aggressive start in the first over,  but then KKR send back the dangerous Lendl Simmons. KKR would need many such strikes to even cause a flutter in the Mumbai camp though.

OUT! The wristy spinners are wreaking havoc today in Bengaluru. First Karn Sharma now Piyush Chawla. Bowls a wrong ‘un as Simmons goes forward to defend it, but misses the ball completely. The finger goes up after Chawla starts appealing, but replays suggest it was missing leg. Cannot term it as a howler because it looked close, but nonetheless Kolkata have got a lucky breakthrough.

After 1 overs,Mumbai Indians 11/0 ( Lendl Simmons 3 , Parthiv Patel (W) 4)

KKR begins its defense of 107 with Umesh Yadav, bowling to Lendl Simmons who opens for MI with Parthiv Patel. The required rate is just under 5.5; this is the sort of ask you can walk home provided you keep your wits about you and don’t givt wickets to the opposition.

And this is not how you start this kind of defense: ball two, Simmons punches on the off, Ishant Jaggi at point runs across and slides all over the ball. Gives two where there was nothing. Umesh with the next one bowls it fuller and faster, Simmons very lucky to get a slight inside edge before it thudded into the pads in front of middle stump.

Simmons finally gets a tight single to get off the mark; Umesh slants one across the left handed Chawla, who wafts at it and misses, lucky not to touch through. Well, um, not the most confident of starts this, but Umesh drifts onto the leg stump next ball, Chawla flicks, misses, the ball goes down to fine leg for four off the pads, leg byes. So far, that is 6 freebies gifted in the very first over. And Chawla makes it count — Umesh slants it across but fuller in length this time, Chawla eases onto the front foot and creams the drive through cover, finds the boundary.

This may well prove to be a good toss to win for MI. It’s a tricky pitch to set a target on. KKR were probably aiming too high in the beginning and have ended with a below par total. They will come back all guns blazing though as there is still something on this pitch for their bowlers. MI would feel confident of chasing this down. ​

The Mumbai openers, Parthiv Patel and Lendl Simmons, have arrived at the centre. Simmons will take the strike, Umesh Yadav to bowl the first over of Mumbai’s innings. KKR need early wickets. Can Umesh provide that?

Right then.  KKR bundled out for 107. A very paltry score and Mumbai are firm favourites to win this. I am reminded of this Mumbai fan I met earlier who gave KKR no chance and now I see why. Kolkata had cold feet again faced with the Mumbai challenge. ​

Outstanding @mipaltan !!!

— Michael Clarke (@MClarke23) May 19, 2017

107 by Kolkata Knight Riders today against Mumbai Indians at Bangalore is the third lowest total in an IPL knockout match. The lowest total in an IPL knockout match is 87 by Delhi Daredevils against Rajasthan Royals at Mumbai in 2008.

After 19 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 107/10 ( Umesh Yadav 2 , )

Lasith Malinga to bowl the penultimate over. Slower length ball first up, Umesh Yadav swipes at it and misses. He does manage to put bat to ball next up, hitting to midwicket from line of off stump, gets one. Malinga finally gets his best ball going — swinging yorker at pace, unlucky it just misses off stump after beating Rajpoot’s flail.

The slower yorker next up, and this time Rajpoot’s swish is beaten by the slower pace and again, the ball is an inch away from off stump. So finally, Malinga does what you do to tailenders — full ball into the base of middle stump, Rajpoot swings, and of course he misses — the bat was picked up from somewhere near the point region, the swing was across the line — and the ball crashes into middle. KKR bowled out for 107 with, criminally, 7 balls left to play.

KKR have too few on the board to challenge MI, even on a pitch where there is something for bowlers. Great effort by MI — bowled superbly, fielded and caught brilliantly, and were led superbly by Rohit Sharma. In contrast, KKR simply succumbed — no one batsman, barring Suryakumar, showed the nous to bat through, and even SY flung his bat a bit too early, when there were still overs left to play.

Be back with the chase.

OUT! Kolkata have been bundled out for a paltry 107. Lasith Malinga comes back finally to bowl in the death overs. Bowls three slower yorkers, Rajpoot didn’t read any one of those. Malinga finally bowls one on the sticks and off comes the leg stump. KKR all out for 107.

An outstanding spell for Jasptrit Bumrah. His figures are 3-1-7-3. Stuff of dreams this in a T20.  Kolkata need to ensure that they play out the 20 overs and get as close as 130. Kolkata 106/9 after 18 overs.

After 18 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 106/9 ( Umesh Yadav 1 , Ankit Rajpoot 4)

Jasprit Bumrah comes back on as he usually does at the death, and it is the end of Suryakumar Yadav. SY has been batting fluently throughout but with partners running out, tries to lash out. Beaten by a quick ball that hurried him on the pull; the resulting skier has Malinga under it at backward square, he initially misjudges it, sees the ball dropping in front of him and takes it on a desperate lunge. You hear of fielders making tough catches look easy — Johnson and Hardik today, for example; this is an example of an easy one made tough.

Not sure how, but Rajpoot manages to get an inside edge on a Bumrah yorker that flashes past leg stump, down to fine leg for four. Bumrah beats him with yet another yorker, angling into the leg stump; beats Rajpoot this time as the batsman tries a swipe, but misses the stump by a whisker.

One over to go for MI, one wicket left for KKR.

Well, a very disappointing evening if you are a KKR fans as the ninth wicket goes down on 101. The Mumbai fans are not complaining though. It is a sea of blue in the stands. For a moment you may confuse this to be the Wankhede.

OUT! Bumrah removes Suryakumar Yadav. The Indian pacer bangs it short and Yadav tries to pull it away but only manages a top edge in the process. The ball goes high up in the air, Lasith Malinga charges in from fine leg and dives forward to take a well judged catch. Bumrah gets his third wicket.

After 17 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 101/8 ( Suryakumar Yadav 31 , Umesh Yadav 0)

Not too many fours and sixes to cheer so the Bangalore crowd cheer Shah Rukh Khan, who is in the house. Johnson for his last over, and what the hell was that? Landed almost on his toes, was wide down off, bounced twice before it got to the keeper… owww. 

Johnson has to bowl that again — he does, and takes out Chawla. This is fuller in length, on off, Chawla tries to heave it over the off cordon, Ambati Rayudu judges well and holds at mid off. A nothing shot to end a nothing innings — Chawla just not able to get away against pace, first from Hardik, then Johnson.

Nathan Coulter-Nile the new man in. Johnson slants one across him from over the wicket at good pace, NCN swings and misses. The next ball is short, NCN pulls, connects perfectly, hits it well into the stands. Johnson has the last laugh — fuller length ball next up, NCN tries the lofted drive, doesn’t get really under the ball to get the distance, Hardik Pandya runs around at long on, judges to a nicety and holds, to give Johnson two in the over and stymie any chance the KKR had of putting a decent total on the board.

OUT! Johnson strikes two in one over. Angles in a full ball, NCN flicks it in thei air, Hardik Pandya runs in from deep midwicket and takes the catch. The big screen pops up with a ‘John-stun’ message and rightly so. He didn’t get too many chances this season but has performed when he has got an opportunity.

OUT! Piyush Chawla, a handy bat, looks to loft Johnson over mid off. He doesn’t time it well at all and miscues itt to Ambati Rayudu, at that position, who goes to his right and grabs it. Kolkata lose their seventh wicket. Onus on Suryakumar Yadav to take them near 130.

4/16 by Karn Sharma in today’s match against Kolkata Knight Riders is the joint best bowling figures by a spinner in an IPL knockout match and the joint third best by any bowler in an IPL knockout match.

MI have to be careful here. This KKR team bats deep. Suryakumar Yadav has had an indifferent season so far but he is a domestic cricket beast and is used to batting on such slow tracks. Ishank Jaggi gave him good company in the middle. MI wouldn’t want to chase more than a run a ball here. KKR have shown they can use these pitch conditions to good effect. 

After 16 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 94/6 ( Suryakumar Yadav 30 , Piyush Chawla 2)

Karn Sharma had one ball in that over, the 15th, when time-out was called at the fall of Jaggi’s wicket. He bowls that to Piyush Chawla, who gets off the mark with a drive off the front foot to long off. 4-0-16-4 Karn’s analysis, easily among the best spells by a spinner in this IPL.

Hardik Pandya gets his first over of the night. Chawla works one to the off side, Suryakumar back on strike and walks across to the off stump, takes a short ball on his hip and wafts it out on the on side, bisecting deep square leg and deep midwicket; gets two.

Next up, Yadav goes the other way, stepping to leg, Hardik follows him with the ball, SY has to scramble to get bat to that one and eke out one to backward point. Bouncer next up, across the left handed Chawla who tries, and fails, to play the ramp.

Hardik again, and again the lifting delivery this time on off, and again Chawla tries the ramp and fails. Seems to think that was a no ball for height but the umpire makes the right call. And Hardik rounds off a good over with a full length ball that has Chawla pushing in front of him.

This over has given Rohit an additional option — he doesn’t have to bowl Malinga again if he doesn’t want to.

After 15 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 88/6 ( Suryakumar Yadav 27 , Piyush Chawla 1)

Karn Sharma back, for his last over. Suryakumar onto the front foot, drives to long on, finds one. Ball two is a bit short, SY onto the back foot and pulls it fiercely. Brilliant work by Krunal Pandya, running to his right from square leg, sliding and fielding, keeps it down to just two where it looked a certain four.

Suryakumar pushes the next one out on the on, gets one. Karn to Jaggi, and some pressure here for the bowler, tries to keep it out of the batsman’s reach and ends up with a wide outside off. 

And out of the blue, a wicket. Karn Sharma floats one up, Jaggi comes down the track looking to get under it and loft; but gets a bit too close to the pitch of the ball, can’t find the room he needs, smacks it straight to long on where Johnson judges and holds a good catch.

Time out taken at the fall of that wicket, ending a 56-run partnership that has given KKR some room to manoeuver.

With five overs left and Kolkata not even in the nineties, they would do well to reach 130 and then go flat out to defend their score. Difficult, but the sluggish Chinnaswamy wicket gives them hope. Remember Punjab defended a similar score against the home team RCB in the group stage.

Karn Sharma becomes the second spinner to take a four-wicket haul Mumbai Indians in IPL. Harbhajan Singh has achieved the feat twice for them. 

Oh yes, there you have it. ‘Saaachin Saaachin’ chants all around the Chinnaswamy and almost immediately Mumbai get another wicket. Invoking the ‘cricket god’ works in Mumbai’s favour!

OUT! Just when it seemed that Kolkata might just start scoring more freely, Karn strikes! He bowls a loopy delivery around middle, Jaggi makes room and lofts it over mid on. He had got the connection but not the elevation and holes out to Johnson in the deep. A lot was discussed about Karn Sharma’s selection over Harbhajan Singh, but the leggie’s wicket taking abilties worked in his favour and he finishes with four wickets.

Fifty-run stand comes up between Ishank Jaggi and Suryakumar Yadav in the 14th over. These both have displayed maturity and should look to continue that.

After 14 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 83/5 ( Ishank Jaggi 27 , Suryakumar Yadav 25)

Malinga, back, and the first ball is the slower one, Jaggi goes down on one knee and slog sweeps it over midwicket, finds the boundary. Malinga’s slower balls were lethal when his regular pace was north of 145, but now he is bowling under 140, it is no longer the threat it used to be.

Malinga again, and yadav drives well, on the walk, out on the on side and gets one. What is notable about SY is how decisive his footwork is — either forward or back, very quickly, never caught in middle ground.

Leg bye for Jaggi, as he tries to whip one and misses to a ball sliding down leg; Suryakumar steps back into his crease and works a single into the covers. Last ball, Malinga to Jaggi, fuller in length and a brilliant, whippy drive on the on side, lots of wrist in it, taking full toll of the fuller length ball as Malinga looks for the yorker and fails to find it; the ball streaks through to the wide midwicket fence, so the over begins and ends with fours. What was I saying about Malinga being the weak link?

There are some support for KKR from the stand opposite to the one where we are. The flags come out as KKR get a much needed boundary.  

After 13 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 71/5 ( Ishank Jaggi 18 , Suryakumar Yadav 23)

Suryakumar Yadav on strike, Krunal Pandya continues and a lovely sweep — second time he has done this to Krunal, this time he reaches further forward, hits it well in front of square leg, finds the fence.

So Krunal changes his line, bowls outside off. Yadav shimmies, gets leg side of the ball, plays a superb inside out lofted shot over extra cover, four more. The next ball is played off the back foot, a forcing shot through point, single. Yadav batting with great ease here; Jaggi has been a hit choppy, but SY hasn’t put a foot wrong all innings.

Jaggi takes a single out to the long on region; Krunal keeps SY quiet with two fuller length balls angling into his pads, both of which Yadav looks to force against the turn, and misses. 10 in that over.

Interesting that the two batsmen most steeped in domestic cricket in recent times are looking most comfortable

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 19, 2017

Suryakumar Yadav and Ishank Jaggi have found the odd boundary every now and then. But they need to up the ante now. Take those odd risks, a score of 130-140 could be enough on this deck. Kolkata 61/5 after 12 overs.

After 12 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 61/5 ( Ishank Jaggi 17 , Suryakumar Yadav 14)

4.8 the run rate, Mitchell Johnson comes back into the attack, replacing Malinga, goes round the wicket. And Jaggi, to the very first ball, comes dancing out, gets nicely leg side of the ball, frees his arms and smacks the slower one through extra cover, four.

Johnson then goes wide on the crease, angles one across the stumps and Jaggi this time lets it come to him, hits it out to wide midwicket, long chase there for Ambati Rayudu and the batsmen run three. Nice work on the line by Rayudu there.

Johnson to Suryakumar, Goes over the wicket this time, bounces one and Yadav tries to hit it over point, beaten for pace. Oooo, Johnson is pissed — gives the batsman a glare and a bit of lip. Bouncer next up — there’s the aggressive Mitch we are familiar with. Good bouncer, into the body at pace, and SY goes under it. 

Yadav to the fifth ball, fuller in length, plays it off his pads, they try to sneak one to square leg — very good fielding there, SY was gone for all money if the direct throw had hit — wasn’t even in the frame when the throw came in, but it missed. The last ball is quick, short, Jaggi tries to swing it to leg, beaten for pace, late on the shot, hits it into the ground at his feet. Good, aggressive fast bowling this, after that first ball four.

The blue flags are being waved proudly. Mumbai on top and their fans are loving it.

After 11 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 53/5 ( Ishank Jaggi 10 , Suryakumar Yadav 13)

Karn Sharma off, Krunal Pandya takes over and a lovely shot first up. To the line on off, Suryakumar down on one knee, gets under the ball and hits the sweep flat, hard and perfectly placed to find the fence at backward square. Ball three, Yadav plays gently out on the off, they sneak one before the bowler can run around and field. Shorter ball next up, Jaggi pulls it across his body to deep midwicket, hitting the shot below his waist, single. Suryakumar — who is playing more straight bat in comparison to Jaggi — gets one to long on with a punched drive. Jaggi sweeps at the last one, but it is outside off, doesn’t get the angle right on the shot, ball flares off the top edge, looping down to third man, single ends the over.

The first half of Kolkata innings is over. Their score is 43 and they have lost five wickets. A gargantuan task awaits Ishank Jaggi and Suryakumar Yadav. While Jaggi is playing his second match of the season, Yadav is going through a lean patch. A perfect opportunity to perform for both these youngsters. Kolkata 43/5 after 10 overs.

After 10 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 43/5 ( Ishank Jaggi 8 , Suryakumar Yadav 5)

Malinga takes over from Krunal Pandya, pacy first ball, in that fourth stump channel and Jaggi, looking to get cute on a dab to third man, damn near nicks off. Comes down the track to the next one — what the hell? — and swings, head high, bat waving all over the place, misses completely as the ball angles across the stumps and goes down the leg side. Again, Jaggi tries to drop one from line of off down to third man and again, superb fielding — the Mumbai boys are up for this one. From backward point, Hardik covers ground very quickly to cut it off.

Jaggi drives, finds mid off, inside the ring but they have enough room to run one. Next ball, Suryakumar Yadav goes across the stumps, shuffling to the off side, takes an off and middle ball onto his pads and flicks over midwicket, to the fielder there who is deep, and gets one.

Malinga, last ball, to Jaggi, length ball outside off, driven off to on and bisecting midwicket and mid on; the batsmen run two.

Odd thing to say, this, but Malinga is actually the weak link in this attack, and that is primarily because he has lost a few yards in pace.

Well, this is looking like a Test innings! KKR going at snail’s pace at the halfway stage. ‘No chance today. KKR can not beat Mumbai ever,’ a downcast Kolkata fan says.

After 9 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 39/5 ( Ishank Jaggi 5 , Suryakumar Yadav 4)

Losing half the side in the first eight overs means that KKR can’t push for a big score; by the same token, Rohit now has all kinds of bowling options at his disposal. Karan Sharma after the break, the hat-trick ball and it is flighted, spun viciously, and beat the bat of Ishant Jaggi as he looked to play at it. Lucky, that.

Sharma now beautifully on song. He is floating pretty much everything around off, varying the degree of spin, tossing in the googly, all totally unpredictable, no way for the batsmen to detect any patterns, or settle into a groove. Single to Jaggi off the fourth ball, Suryakumar nicely forward and driving to long off for one off the fifth. And Yadav plays gently to point to sneak one off the last ball.

Amazing spell this: 10 of the 18 balls Karn Sharma has bowled have been dots. Early contender for man of this match, this spell.

KKR are five down already with next to nothing on the board. Their all round strength is gong to be tested here. Karn Sharma has bowled beautifully here. This is going to be another low scoring affair. KKR were still recovering from their sleep lag from the other night it seems. MI is still attacking which is the right thing to do. They wouldn’t want to chase too many on this pitch.

The umpire signal the Time Out. Kolkata desperately need it given the position they are in currently. It is imperative for these two to bat as deep as possible. Another wicket and the tail could be exposed. Mumbai, on the other hand, will be to happy with the situation and want to bundle out KKR soon. Karn Sharma’s hattrick delivery coming up…

After 8 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 36/5 ( Ishank Jaggi 3 , Suryakumar Yadav 3)

2-0-8-3 Karn Sharma — that is the kind of spell that you dream of bowling in a knockout game. Krunal Pandya comes on now, taking over from Bumrah, Rohit Sharma opting for spin at both ends.

Suryakumar Yadav the new man, takes a ball from off and guides it out on the on, places it well, the two batsmen race through for a second run. Krunal, flighted, on off stump and Yadav this time works it on the off and gets one; Jaggi to the next ball drives out on the on side, finds Krunal’s brother fielding at long on, gets one. Five runs in that over, and after 8 overs, we have the first time out of the innings.

MI right on top here; neither Yadav nor Jaggi can push the envelope on the strokeplay given there isn’t much decent batting to follow — these two will now have to look to bat deep.

31 is the second lowest score at which Kolkata Knight Riders have lost their fifth wicket in an IPL match. The lowest score at the fall of fifth wicket for Kolkata Knight Riders is 29 which also was against Mumbai Indians at Wankhede in 2008. 

Gambhir out too. And soon De Grandhomme goes too. KKR five down for 31. They are under real threat of being bowled out under a hundred. KKR’s woes against MI continue. Gloom and doom among the Kolkata fans as MI players and their fans celebrate.

After 7 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 31/5 ( Ishank Jaggi 1 , )

Karn Sharma to Gambhir, and there is the difference between GG and Narine. It’s the googly, Gambhir picks it perfectly, comes dancing down, and plays it with the turn, lofted off drive and finds the boundary. Superb demonstration of how to play spin — Narine was beaten mostly because he was trying to hit across his body, therefore beaten by the turn; GG keeps his bat behind the line of the ball and looks just to place the ball, not hit it.

Takes a single, Jaggi reciprocates off the next ball. Ball four, leg break, pitching middle, beats Gambhir’s defensive push and takes the pad, appeal but that was going down the leg side. The next ball, and another wicket!

That was spun sharply and tossed right up, on middle, Gambhir looks to swing with the turn but the fuller length of the ball cramped that shot — GG doesn’t get the elevation, manages only to hit it straight into Hardik Pandya on the line at midwicket. Superb deception there with the flight and loop, which coupled with the turn beat even such a good player of spin as GG.

Colin de Grandhomme — and gone first ball. That was the googly, out of the back of the hand. Bowled flatter, very full length, CDG trapped on top of the crease, looked for the leg break, beaten as it turns a bit into him, hits the pad a fraction before it finds the edge of the bat, gone LBW and now this game is in danger of finishing very early.

OUT! A golden duck for Colin de Grandhomme. He bowls a googly first up and the Kiwi is beaten all ends up. He plays across the line and the ball thuds him on the pads. It was as plumb as it gets. The umpire has no hesitation to give him the marching orders. Karn will be on a hattrick on the first ball of his next over.

This match is compensating viewers for troubling them till 1.30 am the other day ! What's happening ! #MIvKKR

— Vikram Sathaye (@vikramsathaye) May 19, 2017

OUT! Oh my word, Mumbai in the driver’s seat at the Chinnaswamy. Since the start of the over, Gautam Gambhir was looking to take the attack to Karn Sharma. He first lofted him over covers for a boundary, And on the fourth ball, he slog sweeps it towards midwicket. It looked like he had hit it cleanly but unfortunately finds Hardik Pandya in the deep.

Kolkata Knight Riders scored 25 runs today in powerplay overs which is the least for them in IPL-10. Their previous lowest powerplay score in IPL 2017 was 40 which came against Sunrisers Hyderabad at Kolkata. 

Kolkata had a shaky start against SRH in the Eliminator but Gambhir carried them through the chase. Once again the responsibility has fallen on the captain. Mumbai have started exceptionally. Kolkata 25/3 after 6 overs.

If you are wondering what the term Harakiri means, Narine shows what it is all about. Jumps down the track to Karen Sharma, misses and is stumped. Home boy Robbie Uthappa comes out to a big cheer.KKR in bit of a pickle now as Uthappa also departs for a small score. Mumbai are choking Kolkata the same way the latter choked Sunrisers in the Eliminator a few days ago. The Chinnaswamy pitch has been pretty sluggish this season but this is an abysmal score by Kolkata in the powerplay.

After 6 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 25/3 ( Gautam Gambhir (C) 7 , Ishank Jaggi 0)

Bumrah comes back, for the final PowerPlay over. Uthappa facing, and Bumrah bowls a slower one first up, on good length, Uthappa onto the front foot, but can’t get room to drive, ends up defending. 

And another wicket: superb bowling this, after that opening slower ball, Bumrah steps the pace up, bowls at 144k, fuller length. Uthappa shapes to play it to the on side, beaten for pace there and the ball takes him on the pad in front of middle and leg, ball likely to hit top of leg stump. KKR now really struggling with its influential top order sliced away inside the power plays. And again, how good has Rohit Sharma’s bowling changtes been?

Bumrah to Ishant Jaggi, quicker, fuller, and Jaggi plays it defensively out on the off side. The ext ball is a repeat; Jaggi tries to work it to third man and Hardik Pandya fielding in a sort of fly slip position, a bit deep, runs to his right, dives, stops. Brilliant fielding that.

Bumrah sends down a scorcher next up — very fast, very full, some late movement into Jaggi and the batsman is completely beaten on the defensive push, lucky not to nick off.

Wicket maiden for Bumrah. Three runs and two wickets in the two final power play overs, and Mumbai right now bossing this game for all they are worth.

OUT! KKR in a bit of a bother here now. Rohit Sharma tosses the ball to Jasprit Bumrah for the second time in PowerPlay. He angles in a length ball, which is coming in, Robin looks to tuck it away but is nowhere near the ball. He gets rapped on the front pad. Bumrah goes up and the umpire obliges. The only doubt was the height but replays confirm that it was a good decision.

After 5 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 25/2 ( Gautam Gambhir (C) 7 , Robin Uthappa (W) 1)

Karn Sharma takes over from Johnson. Spin inside the powerplays, good work by Rohit Sharma here. Floats the first ball up, on leg and Gambhir swings, misses. Ball two, same line, flighted higher, again the swing and miss but a leg bye.

To Narine, Karn Sharma bowling flatter, fuller in length and on middle stump line. And there’s the wicket — lovely work that, Sharma predicts Narine will come out to him, bowls the googly, holds back the length. Narine misreads, plays for the leg break, looking to swing over the on side, the ball turns away from his flailing bat and Narine stumped by a good two feet. Another spot on bowling change this, and it’s worked for MI.

So the two players with the fastest 50s this IPL are both back in the dugout. Robin Uthappa the new man, and starts with a nice front foot push, from line of off, to long on and gets one. Two runs and a wicket in his first over, and Karn Sharma has done his team proud.

OUT! Sunil Narine fails to deliver. There was a huge debate whether Gambhir should have opened but Gambhir and Co backed the West Indian. He looks to loft Karn Sharma’s googly over long off but fails to get bat on ball and misses it by a huge margin. Parthiv Patel collects the ball and whips the bails off. Robin Uthappa is the new man in.

Gambhir has got beaten in the fourth stump line a bit too much for his liking now. He has a habit of stealing singles to third man, which the Mumbai bowlers are countering. Their plans have been spot on and well executed so far. Kolkata struggling to score freely. They are 22/1 after 4 overs.

And Narine is under way with a nonchalant flick of wrists for six. But what do we have here? Suddenly ‘RCB RCB’ chants all around th stadium. Yes it is difficult to play host when your home team is nowhere to be seen.

After 4 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 22/1 ( Sunil Narine 10 , Gautam Gambhir (C) 6)

Malinga takes over from Bumbrah, and gets it on Narine’s pad first up with a ball very quick, full, on leg stump. Ball shaping away, so no LBW possible, leg bye taken.

Gambhir in his turn works Malinga away for a single, and thjis time Narine nails it — on driving length on leg stump again, and Narine gets his front leg out of the way, let the ball come to him and with a lot of wrist, lofts it over the midwicket boundary, six.

Malinga changes his line, bowls length on off slanting across the left hander and Narine drives to mid off, single. Malinga to Gambhir, slanting across, straightening as it passes the batsman and Gambhir tries to work it down to third man, fails to make contact. The last ball of the over is a bit reduced in pace, Gambhir in two minds, shaped to push, then tried to dab down and run, ends up playing it at his feet, nine in the over and four of the PP overs gone.

Gambhir announces himself with the beautiful cover drive for four. But Sunil Narine batting on 3 off 4 balls! That is new. On normal occasions he would have already hit a couple of fours or may be a six or two. Credit to the MI bowlers. The DJ goads the fans of the respective teams to make some noise. The MI fans are evidently noisier.favours the team batting second in a T20 game.

Meanwhile, the Bengaluru fans are shouting AAAR-CCC-BBB. some things never change, they did the same during the last match. Very loyal and passionate fans, I must say.

After 3 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 13/1 ( Sunil Narine 3 , Gautam Gambhir (C) 5)

Mitch Johnson to Sunil Narine, bowls the first on that fourth stump line, a tad short. Narine backs away a bit looking to force square on the off, beaten for pace. Very tentative, that from Narine. And Johnson tries Narine out with a bouncer, middle and leg line, a hesitant, prodding waft by Narine, up in the air but short of fine leg standing outside the circle. Single.

Johnson, getting top pace now, to Gambhir — straight ball on the fourth stump line and GG eases onto the front foot, drives fluidly, to the right of mid off and finds the boundary. Lovely, flowing drive, followed by a dab to the leg side, to the square leg region, when Johnson straightens his line and bowls off stump, GG gets one.

Johnson to Narine, goes round the wicket, bangs it short, looking to lift it into Narine’s ribs. The batsman prods it away out on the on, gets one. Johnson bowling around the 144k mark, not looking for change downs in pace in this over. Ball six, to GG, is a bouncer, too high though and that is a no ball as it flies over Gambhir’s head.

Johnson rebowls that and does well, takes the pace off a bit, bowls it around 5th stump. Gambhir square drives, finds point placed just for that shot, no run. Three of the six power play overs gone, KKR 13/1 and off to a painfully slow start.

#KKR fans when Lynn-sanity doesn't happen in eliminator... #IPL #KKRvMI #MIvKKR pic.twitter.com/vvFIuSh8Zq

— Chetan Narula (@chetannarula) May 19, 2017

Very tight first two overs from Mumbai. They have varied their pace extremely well and have managed to keep Narine off strike, which forced Lynn to go for a big shot. An early wicket of Lynn will boost Rohit and co. Gambhir will have to play the anchor role once again. Mumbai 5/1 after 2 overs.

Gautam Gambhir has scored 3023 as a captain of Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL which is the most by a captain for a team in IPL. Will he play captain’s knock today?

After 2 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 5/1 ( Sunil Narine 1 , Gautam Gambhir (C) 0)

Jasprit Bumrah, right arm over, opening for MI for the first time, to Lynn and to the off line and good length, Lynn smacks that out on the on, doesn’t connect too clean plus there is a fielder out at long on, just one. Full toss next up, slanting across the left hander Narine, and hit out to mid off, single. Bumrah looking for the yorker there, misses his length. 

And Lynn goes: fuller length from Bumrah, going just a bit wide on the crease and angling in. Lynn looked for the loft over long on, got a bit cramped for room as the ball angled in to him, and hit it straight to Pollard, fielding close to the boundary at long on. That was almost a sucker punch — they had long on out for Lynn from the start, given his penchant to lift there.

Gambhir in at number three. Beautiful bowling by Bumrah this — angles it across Gambhir, hits a length just outside off and the ball holds its line, beating Gambhir’s tentative push. And then he does it again — closer to off, then darting away off the seam a bit. Beats Gambhir’s push again, there is an appeal for catch behind, but no touch.

Two top overs by MI at the top of the innings, and Rohit springing a surprise using Bumrah for over number two; it pays off with Lynn’s wicket

OUT! Huge blow for KKR. Bumrah bowls a length ball, Lynn looks to go over mid on with a straight shot, but the problem was that Rohit had deployed a fielder, Kieron Pollard, at long on who gets under the ball to reverse cup it. The crowd is buzzing, think Mumbai have got a lot of support at the Chinnaswamy stadium,

After 1 overs,Kolkata Knight Riders 3/0 ( Chris Lynn 3 , Sunil Narine 0)

After all that debate about who should open, Gambhir goes with what I think personally is the best option: Narine and Lynn walk out to open the KKR innings. When you have two explosive players of that kind, you throw them into the pot first up, in the PowerPlays, knowing that if one of them falls early, it is not as big a blow.

Lynn faces; Mumbai Indians give the ball to Mitchell Johnson to open. Still remains to be seen whether MI will miss McClenaghan, who has been their best enforcer in the Power Plays.

One slip in place, Johnson over the wicket and Lynn smacks the first ball, on length and slanting across him from the left arm quick bowling over the wicket. Finds mid off with that crisp opening shot. Ball two, and early on you see that pitch in play — a 145k ball, but it got to Lynn late off the pitch, Lynn not getting the timing on his attempt to hit on the on. Ball three is slower, on leg and Lynn ties himself up in a knot trying to hit to on.

Johnson ups his pace again for ball four and varies the line, slanting it from off to well outside, Lynn heaves and misses. Ball five, bouncer on middle and leg, another Lynn heave — very hesitant batting by Lynn here — and off the top edge, it lobs over Malinga’s head at short fine leg. Gets two. Yorker ends the over, Lynn manages a single. Good first over this, Johnson varying lines, lengths and pace and nailing that yorker off the last ball, not letting Lynn get away.

Sunil Narine has scored 88.79% runs from boundaries in IPL-10 which is the highest by any batsman. He has hit 34 fours and nine sixes in IPL-10 so far.

Off-beat approach by KKR must say. Pathan dropped and Sunil Narine back as opener!

— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) May 19, 2017

Chris Lynn’s strike rate of 190.52 in T20 cricket in 2017 is the highest among all the batsmen who have atleast faced 100 balls in T20s in 2017.

The Mumbai players are strolling out at the centre. Rohit Sharma gives a little prep talk to his team. Kolkata go back to the pair of  Lynn-Narine for opening. Mitchell Johnson will start the proceedings for Mumbai. Time to roll….

These two were the form teams for a majority of this IPL. KKR lost their way around the midway mark but on paper, you don’t look much further than these two if you are asked to pick the two strongest team this IPL. KKR would hold the edge with better knowledge of the conditions having already played a game here and using the pitch conditions to their advantage. The toss may prove to be decisive it if rains later in the day. D/L clearly favours the team batting second in a T20 game.

The players are out in the centre warming up in right earnest. Mumbai chasing would give just a little edge. It is always hard to decide what score is a big enough score when you are batting first and that is the problem KKR will have. Meanwhile the teams are being announced on the loudspeaker. Fantastic cheer as Kieron Pollard’s name is announced.

KKR make two changes from the side that played the other night: Ankit Rajpoot comes in for Yusuf Pathan, which on the face of it seems a bit startling since it, at least on paper, weakens the middle order of a side that is not overly strong in that department. Trent Boult is rested, Colin de Grandhomme gets into the eleven, which makes sense since Boult has oscillated from the decent to the expensive, and hasn’t been particularly effective at the back end of the innings.

Mumbai Indians have made just the one forced change — Mitchell Johnson gets into the playing eleven because Mitchell McClenaghan is injured. Not much in it; MMC is by a fraction the better batsman and is also more match-ready; Mitch Johnson hasn’t played too many games for MI and could be a bit rusty. 

The real shocker, as I mentioned in the previous post, is that MI decide to keep Bhajji out of the eleven — he has taken more wickets than any other spinner in knockout matches, but more to the point, in the back half of this IPL he has been bowling with great control and considerable penetration. You’d have thought he would be MI’s enforcer in the middle overs; time will tell if this proves a bad decision.

Mumbai Indians: Lendl Simmons, Parthiv Patel, Rohit Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Karn Sharma, Mitchell Johnson, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga

Kolkata Knight Riders: Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Gautam Gambhir Robin Uthappa, Ishank Jaggi, Suryakumar Yadav, Colin de Grandhomme, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Piyush Chawla, Umesh Yadav, Ankit Rajpoot

Gautam Gambhir called wrong — and Rohit Sharma decides to chase. Both captains seem uncertain about the exact nature of the wicket. This could be one of those decisions that could well be the spark for debate by the halfway stage. If KKR puts runs on the board big time, the pressure will fall straight on the chasing side. More on the teams in a bit, but for starters, here is the one that startled me personally: NO Harbhajan in the MI lineup, which seems counter-intuitive considering the Chinnaswamy’s behavior.

Mumbai Indians have made one change, Mitchell McClenaghan is injured Mitchell Johnson replaces him. And KKR make two changes, Colin de Grandhomme and Ankit Rajpoot come in for Trent Boult and Yusuf Pathan.

Mumbai Indians have a 2-5 record while chasing totals in knockout matches in IPL. On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders have a 2-1 record while defending totals in knockout matches in IPL. 

Got hold of a Mumbai fan. An ardent supporter of Rohit Sharma, this gentleman is extremely bullish on MI’s chances this evening.

TOSS: Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to field first.

Mumbai Indians are the only team to defeat Kolkata Knight Riders twice in five consecutive matches. They had done it once between 29 April, 2008 and 22 March, 2010. Kolkata Knight Riders have lost five consecutive matches against Mumbai Indians in IPL since 14 May, 2015. 

A fantastic atmosphere outside the Chinnaswamy. People have come in numbers. Support for Mumbai is just a bit more by the looks of it. Huge crowds outside every entrance.

A serious heavyweight bout on the cards. Two Champions who will go hell for leather. Bring it on @mipaltan @KKRiders #MIvKKR #IPL pic.twitter.com/aZHToD9ZbB

— Ravi Shastri (@RaviShastriOfc) May 19, 2017

It’s not that Kolkatta Knight Riders have lost both their games against Mumbai Indians this season – what is noteworthy is that they lost both ways, defending and chasing.

In their first encounter, in Mumbai April 9, KKR ran up a decent 178, thanks to Manish Pandey blitzing 23 off the final over bowled by Mitch McClenaghan. The total looked even more impressive when KKR reduced MI to 119/5 after 16.1 overs. Then Mumbai stormed back, with the combination of Nitish Rana and Hardik Pandya smacking Chris Woakes, Trent Boult and Ankit Rajpoot for six fours and four sixes, amid a welter of misfielding and missed chances, to win with a ball to spare.

When the two met again at the Eden Gardens on May 13 KKR fielded its best batting combination, fronted by Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn, and still failed by nine runs to hunt down MI’s par score of 173.

Couldn’t defend, couldn’t chase — KKR has a bit of a thing when facing Mumbai and not just this season either – their IPL head-to-head stands at 15-5 in favor of MI. But it’s the weather and conditions, not history, that could play a key role in today’s knockout to determine the identity of the second finalist.

Bangalore has been rain-sodden these past few days, and as I write this preview there is the odd drumroll of thunder in the sky. A thunderstorm is forecast, as it was two days ago when rain came down at the end of the first innings of the Eliminator, forcing a truncated six-over chase that ended around 1.30 AM.

To add to the uncertainty, the wickets at the Chinnaswamy Stadium have been underwhelming this season (much to the disgust of home side RCB), playing mostly on the slower side with a pronounced tendency for the ball to hold a touch on pitching. None of this conduces to a high-scoring game. 

Here history is a reliable guide: the first innings scores at the Chinnaswamy this season have been 154/8 (RCB), 142/5 (RCB), 161/8 (RPS), 134 all out (RCB), 138/7 (KXIP), 158/6 (RCB) and in the Eliminator the other day, 128/7 by the Sunrisers, all of which puts the par somewhere around 140-145. In low-scoring games the toss, and the opportunity to bat first, could well have an inordinate effect on the outcome, particularly if there is any prolonged rain interruption.

Both teams are well served in the bowling department, with good options for pace and spin. KKR will likely bring Kuldeep Yadav back into the eleven given the nature of the wicket, and Mumbai will for the same reason want Harbhajan back in the side. it is with the bat that KKR seems the weaker of the two outfits.

There is little to differentiate between the two sides in the top half of the batting; it is in the back half that the Kolkatta lineup is none too impressive, and it is weakened still further by the absence through injury of Manish Pandey. Against that, Mumbai is well served in the middle/lower orders by the Pandya brothers Hardik and Krunal, backed by Bajji and McClenaghan.

On paper, MI appears to have the edge – but against that, KKR played this venue just 48 hours ago and have the more recent first-hand experience of what it takes. A good call at the coin toss by Gambhir (who this season is second only to David Warner in run-scoring), an opening blast by Sunil Narine and Chris Lynn, and who knows?

Hello and welcome to the live blog of the 2nd Qualifier between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders. To being haunted for almost three hours by rain in Bengaluru in the Eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad, KKR were asked to chase down 48 runs in 6 overs. They did chase it but with a few stutters. Gautam Gambhir once again played a captain’s innings to ensure a spot in the 2nd Qualifier. Mumbai, on the other hand, put up lackluster performance against Rising Pune Supergiant. While KKR has the momentum, MI have an illustrious record against Gambhir’s men. The track will once again be on the slower side, which might help Kolkata. Can they cash in or will Mumbai continue their dominance against them? Stay with us to find out.