KKR v s MI: Kolkata bowlers never allowed Mumbai batsmen to get away

Tags: Indian Premier League 2014, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians

Published on: Apr 17, 2014

The opening game the 2014 IPL season was between two giants of the league – Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians.

The opening game the 2014 IPL season was between two giants of the league – Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians. Hence, there were plenty of hopes of the opener being a tight encounter. Unfortunate, for the IPL fans, who wanted to witness a close clash, the match ended up being a big disappointed. One side was totally dominant on the day, while the other did not turn up at all, it seemed. While Kolkata fought back brilliantly after a slow beginning, Mumbai just lost their way as the match progressed.

The defining battle of the match was between Kolkata’s bowlers and Mumbai’s batsmen, which the latter lost. Mumbai were chasing eight an over to win the game, which is not a herculean task by T20 standards, at least not by IPL benchmarks. But, Kolkata’s bowlers were almost impossible to get away on the day. Right from the start, they kept the pressure on Mumbai, and never allowed their batsmen to build any sort of momentum. The early wicket of Mike Hussey was crucial to Kolkata’s cause. They needed him to get off to a flyer, but it wasn’t to be and Mumbai somehow never recovered from that poor start.

The most incredible aspect of the game was that in spite of having one of the strongest batting line ups in the competition, Mumbai faltered. Having said that, a lot of credit for the same should go to Kolkata’s all-round bowling effort. Even when a partnership was building they ensured that the required run-rate kept climbing, to maintain the pressure on Mumbai. The fact that Mumbai’s top scorer, Ambati Rayudu took 48 balls for 40, hitting only 4 fours, was reflective of how well Kolkata bowled on the day.

Mumbai were still in with an outside chance of victory as long as Rohit Sharma and Rayudu were at the crease. However, their dismissals close to each other, put Mumbai completely on the back foot. Sunil Narine came up with another superb spell to hold back the big hitters. After the likes of Sharma and Rayudu departed, Mumbai would have hoped for the experienced Kieron Pollard and the exciting Corey Anderson to deliver. But, Narine was so brilliant at the end, that he hardly conceded a run, and Pollard found out that hitting sixes was not so easy after all. As for Anderson, his reputation was also dented to an extent as Narine was all over him.

While their magnificent bowling won Kolkata the match, the triumph was set up by an excellent innings by Jacques Kallis batting first. Kallis and Manish Pandey featured in a steady partnership for the second wicket, but at one stage it seemed that they wouldn’t end up with a competitive score even with wickets in hand. This is where Kallis’ genius came to the fore. Once he got his eye in, he slapped the ball to all parts of the ground, and combined with some cheeky hits, guided Kolkata to an impressive total. Narine and co then ensured the rest fell in place.

--By A Cricket Analyst

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