IPL as it happened: Mumbai beat KKR by 65 runs

Click here for the live scorecard. Mumbai Indians beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 65 runs. 2333: Wicket! Balaji b Malinga 0 (3b, 0x4, 0x6): That’s it - yorker from Malinga and Balaji’s gone. Mumbai have now won six out of six at home. KKR 105 all out after 18.2 overs. 2329: Wicket! Narine c Karthik b Johnson 3 (6b, 0x4, 0x6): Faintest of edges as Narine tries to play a short ball from Johnson. The bowler doesn’t appeal until later, but Karthik’s heard the sound and the umpire’s given it. It’s 104-9 after 17.4 overs. 2324: It’s going to be a slow end to KKR’s innings. Narine and Abdulla have managed to work a few singles to take their team to the 100-run mark. It’s 100-8 after 17 oves. 2317: Wicket! Bhatia c Malinga b Harbhajan 4 (5b, 0x4, 0x6): Bhatia tries to sweep it, and Malinga takes a running catch off his top edge. The batsmen can do nothing now but to try and play out the rest of the overs and score as many runs as possible for a better net run-rate. It’s 97-8 after 16 overs. 2311: Wicket! McLaren run out 1 (3b, 0x4, 0x6): McLaren gave away 60 runs in four overs, but has managed to score just one before being run out. KKR 89-7 after 14.1 overs. 2308: Wickets! Das c & b Harbhajan Singh 23 (17b, 2x4, 2x6): Harbhajan Singh takes a sharp return catch, sprints away, stands in attention and celebrates with a ‘shooooooooooshhhhh’ sign. KKR are 89-6 after 14 overs. 2302: Wicket! Morgan c Sharma b Ahmed 5 (10b, 0x4, 0x6): Excellent fielding from skipper Sharma. He takes a fine diving catch to dismiss Morgan — and with that, any hopes the visitors had of winning tonight. It’s 77-5 after 12.2 overs. 2300: Ojha and Harbhajan are slowly tightening the noose. Das whips a four past point before blasting a six over the on-side, but the asking rate is 12.00 now. It’s 77-4 after 12 overs. 2252: Wicket! Kallis c Ahmed b Harbhajan Singh 24 (26b, 2x4, 1x6): Kallis’ turn to step down the track, but he’s mistimed it and the shot is straight to long-off. KKR are 58-4 after 9.5 overs. 2247: Wicket! Pathan b Ojha 13 (8b, 1x4, 1x6): Across the line, and gone! That’s the big wicket and KKR are reeling now. It’s 54-3 after 8.3 overs. 2245: Two more overs gone, and Yusuf Pathan’s massive six and a four have taken KKR to 52-2 after eight overs. Mumbai are unperturbed though, but we all saw what Miller did yesterday in the Kings XI vs RCB game… so sit tight. There could be a twist in the tale. 2237: Wicket! Bisla st Karthik b Ojha 17 (19b, 3x4, 0x6): Bisla gets impatient, charges down the track and misses. Karthik does the needful. KKR 38-2 after 6.1 overs. 2230: Excellent stuff from Johnson in the 5th over, conceding just the single. In the previous over, Bisla cleverly finds the on-side boundary for four. KKR are 30-1 after five overs. 2220: Dropped! Johnson steams in and bowls a delivery at 142.5, which takes an edge and goes straight to Harbhajan at second slip. The spinner has dropped it. Bisla survives. KKR get two fours after that drop and it’s 22-0 after three overs. 2215: Kallis on the charge… slamming a four and a six over point on the last two deliveries of the second over. Many more like that needed for KKR to win this one. It’s 12-1 after two overs. 2210: Wicket! Gambhir b Johnson 0 (2b, 0x4, 0x6): Goner! Gambhir completely beaten as the ball cuts into him and snaps up the stumps. It’s 1-1 after 0.4 overs. KKR need 171 runs to beat Mumbai 2155: 25 runs come from the last over! No one knows why Gambhir bowled McLaren in the last over — where Karthik gets a four and a six (dropped in the process) and Johnson finishes with a massive six after five wides. That’ll take MI to 170-6 after 20 overs. Balaji had an over to go, and had given away just seven runs in three overs. 2147: Wicket! Harbhajan Singh run out 0 (0b, 0x4, 0x6): Bhaji sounded very excited about batting when the commentators were speaking to him earlier. Well, he’s gone without facing a single ball. MI 144-6 after 18.3 overs.

  2143: Wicket! Rayudu run out 0 (0b, 0x4, 0x6): Fielding, boss, fielding! Balaji dives to stop an obvious boundary, gets back up and sends a rocket to the wicket-keeper, who has the bails off in a flash. Tata bye-bye Rayadu. MI 135-5 after 18 overs. 2140: Wicket! Pollard c Narine b McLaren 4 (4b, 1x4, 0x6): Top edge, and taken. Easy as they come. MI are 134-4 after 17.5 overs. 2136: Wicket! Sharma c Morgan b McLaren 16 (11b, 1x4, 1x6): Oh tell you what… tell you what! That’s some catch. It’s not an insane dive and all that, but Morgan knows his body is going to go past the ropes, so he clutches on the ball and throws it in the air… retains his balance dancing over the ropes, gets back in the field and collects the ball again. Super cool. MI 130-3 after 17.1 overs. 2135: Five good balls, and then BAM! Six from Karthik on the last ball of Narine’s over. So 17 gone, and MI are 130-2. 2130: The skipper knows that some quick runs need to be scored, and he’s on the mission immediately. Bhatia’s confidence after Tendulkar’s wicket takes a beating after he goes for a four and a six. MI are 119-2 after 16 overs. 2125: Narine gives no room to the batsmen, who can only work the singles. Both Karthik and Sharma are off the mark and MI are 106-2 after 15 overs. 2121: Wicket! Smith c McLaren b Iqbal Abdulla 47 (53b, 7x4, 0x6): Abdulla strikes now. Smith can’t clear long-on and the openers are back in the dugout. MI 99-2 after 13.3 overs. 2118: Wicket! Tendulkar b Bhatia 48 (28b, 8x4): Rajat Bhatia, principal partnership-breaker for KKR has been introduced… and he has broken the Smith-Sachin stand. Perfect for the visitors. Sachin tries to paddle-sweep — something that got him four earlier in the over — and misses. MI are 93-1 after 13 overs. 2115: Sachin’s back at it… he’s cracked two fours in the last two overs — one off Kallis’ over and one straight over the bowler in Abdulla’s over. MI are 84-0 after 12 overs. 2105: Smith does well to divert a fuller delivery past fine-leg for four. Everything looks like the delay never happened. MI are 69-0 after 10 overs. Right, we’re back on. Oh the floodlights go bust! The players have left the field… 2043: The runs have dried up. Sachin is taking it easy now, with Smith on the other end attacking sporadically. After nine overs, it’s 63-0. 2040: Gambhir is rotating his bowlers now, bringing on Abdulla. However, the spinner’s been smacked by Smith for consecutive fours. It’s 59-0 after eight overs. Sachin on 27 and Smith on 28. 2035: Kallis into the attack now, and it’s Smith’s turn to hit a four — pulling away through the mid-wicket fence. Sachin’s played a couple of identical flicks for two singles. It’s 50-0 after seven overs. 2030: Narine is brought into the attack and calms the nerves a bit. Smith played through the whole over, scoring three off it. It’s 41-0 after six overs. 2025: Balaji bowls two wides in that over, but it tight otherwise. He’s managed to escape Sachin’s onslaught and keeps Smith at bay. MI 38-0 after five overs. 2020: Oh Sachin! Five fours in a row for the little master! What a welcome that is after Balaji’s two miserly overs. MI 33-0 after four overs. 2015: Fantastic stuff from Balaji. He’s untouchable at the moment, bowling 10 dots out of 12 deliveries. MI are 13-0 after three overs. 2010: That’s better from the MI batsmen, and especially Smith. He was under pressure from the first over, but has hit a couple of classic fours to get going. One of them was a solid straight-drive. MI 11-0 after two overs. 2005: Incredible first over from Balaji — moving the ball away from a dazed Dwayne Smith. He’s beaten the West Indian thrice and had two LBW shouts in that maiden. Top class. It’s 0-0 after an over. Mumbai XI: DR Smith, S Tendulkar, D Karthik, RG Sharma, K Pollard, A Rayudu, H Singh, M Johnson, L Malinga, P Ojha, A Nechim KKR XI: M Bisla, G Gambhir, J Kallis, Y Pathan, E Morgan, D Das, R Bhatia, R McLaren, I Abdulla, S Narine, L Balaji Mumbai Indians have won the toss and will bat first Preview: Upbeat after their comprehensive 60-run victory over table-toppers Chennai Super Kings, a confident Mumbai Indians will be eager to further brighten their play-off prospects with yet another win, over holders Kolkata Knight Riders in their IPL game today. Mumbai’s fifth victory in as many games at the Wankhede Stadium, which has proved to be an insurmountable hurdle for visiting teams this season, boosted their points tally to 14 ahead of their 12th round match against the Knight Riders who are languishing in the bottom half of the table with 8 points from 11 matches. [caption id=“attachment_760219” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Sachin in action for Mumbai. BCCI[/caption] It is going to be a daunting task for Kolkata and the clinical dissection of Rajasthan Royals in their previous home game is just the shot in the arm the Gautam Gambhir-led side needed ahead of this huge challenge. The visitors’ hope of making it to the knock-out phase is hanging by a thread and the head to head record against Mumbai — 2 wins against 9 losses — is also not inspiring. But the defending champions can take heart from the fact that when the two teams met here last year, it was Kolkata who emerged victorious. Preview via PTI