IPL 7: Uthappa wins it for KKR, MI almost out of playoff race

Result: Kolkata Knight Riders beat Mumbai Indians by six wickets. Toss: KKR won the toss and chose to bowl first. MI 141-5 in 20 overs: Skipper Rohit Sharma struck a fine half-century and was supported by Ambati Rayudu (33 off 27 balls, 3x4, 1x6) guided Mumbai Indians to a modest 141 for five in their Indian Premier League match against Kolkata Knight Riders here today. In his 45-ball 51-run knock, Rohit struck two sixes and four boundaries to help his team to a modest total after it struggled to force the pace for a major part of the innings at the Barabati Stadium. [caption id=“attachment_1524343” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Uthappa got off the mark with a wristy boundary and never looked back. BCCI[/caption] There was no late flurry either as Sunil Narine conceded just four runs and dismissed Rohit in the last over. Mumbai lost their openers within the first five overs, with Morne Morkel and Shakib Al Hasan accounting for Chidhambaram Gautam (8 off 9 balls) and Lendl Simmons (12 off 14 balls) respectively. Struggling against the pace of Morkel, Gautam charged down the track against the lanky pacer but failed to clear cover where Suryakumar Yadav took a good catch. As for Simmons, Shakib removed him with an arm-ball that kept low and hit his leg-stump — making up for a dropped catch in the previous over.  After reaching 33 off 27 balls, Rayudu holed out Piyush Chawla’s delivery at long-on while trying to get some quick runs. And it could have easily been 70-4 immediately but for Yusuf Pathan’s failure to hold on to a sitter at long-on, giving Rohit a life and Morkel a reason to express anguish. To end the over, Rohit got a boundary off a top edge. Corey Anderson broke the shackles with a six which went long and high over the sight screen and then smacked a four off Chawla in the 14th over. It was a productive over for MI as they picked 17 runs off it. Sunil Narine came back to bowl a tight over and peg MI back once again — leaving MI at just 99-3 in 15 overs. But Rohit soon freed his arms to loft Morkel over long off for a six. Another length ball followed and Rohit effortlessly launched the 146-kmph delivery over extra cover. Having taken a beating, Morkel had something to cheer about as he had Anderson caught at midwicket in the 16th over. KKR 142-4 in 18.4 overs: Robin Uthappa continued his fine form with a brilliant innings worth 80 runs off 52 balls which included nine fours and three sixes as KKR chased down the target with ease. Only Harbhajan Singh managed to any damage — removing Gautam Gambhir (14 off 18) and Manish Pandey (14 off 21) before Yusuf Pathan and Uthappa got off the mark with a wristy boundary and never looked back. Some of his shots, especially the ones through extra-cover, were the sign of a man in top touch. He was so good that in the 16 overs he played in, he failed to hit a boundary in only four of them. It would have been a fitting end if he survived till the end — but after hitting Simmons for two glorious sixes over the offside, he was bowled in the last ball of the 16th over. At this point, KKR needed 26 runs from 24 balls to win. Yusuf (20 runs off 13 balls, 3x4) and Shakib could have seen off the match but the latter was caught by Rayudu off Malinga in the 19th over. However, Yusuf sealed the win in the very next ball with a pull-shot which went for four. Man of the match: Uthappa for his fantastic innings — not just the number of runs he scored, but for how he scored them. (MI innings report with inputs from PTI)