3023dThe Report by Abhishek Purohit

Narine mystery too much for Mumbai

Kolkata Knight Riders are as good as through to the playoffs after Sunil Narine inspired them to a win over Mumbai Indians

Match Centre

Statistics

Best performances - Batsmen

MK Tiwary
MK Tiwary
41(43) 2x4 - 2x6
Control %62%
  • Productive Shot
  • off side drive on front foot
  • 15 runs
  • 1x4 - 1x6
6 6 3 1 4 4 6 11
G Gambhir
G Gambhir
27(23) 3x4 - 1x6
Control %58%
  • Productive Shot
  • cut shot on back foot
  • 9 runs
  • 0x4 - 1x6
4 14 2 1 2 0 4 0

Best performances - Bowlers

SP Narine
SP Narine
O3.1
M0
R15
W4
Eco4.73
RHB
OFFLEG
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH
L Balaji
O4
M0
R11
W2
Eco2.75
RHB
OFFLEG
  • FTFULL TOSS
  • YYORKER
  • FFULL LENGTH
  • GGOOD LENGTH
  • SGSHORT OF GOOD LENGTH
  • SSHORT LENGTH

Scorer: Binoy George | Commentator: George Binoy

11.35 pm Knight Riders had a dreadful start to the match - McCullum got the worst lbw decision I have seen and Kallis was bowled first ball. They managed to huff and puff to 140, and very few thought that would be enough. Knight Riders, however, had packed their side with spinners, as opposed to Mumbai's pace strategy, and it worked a treat for them. A 32-run victory. It's a whopper. Knight Riders have moved to on to 19 points and a net run-rate of +.478. That will be enough to guarantee them a place in the top four even if they lose their final game.

I cannot stress enough how bamboozling Narine was. He had Tendulkar in knots. No one seems to be able to pick him from the hand, and his pace doesn't allow the batsman much time to read him off the pitch.

Mumbai Indians will wonder where it all went wrong. Their openers were slow and steady, and then the innings just never took off. Once Tendulkar was foxed by Narine, it was all downhill for the hosts.

cricketsimpleton: "T&T is like a match-winner production factory i guess. Pollard for MI , Bravo for CSK, Kevon cooper for RR, Narine for KKR. isnt this the real avengers team!"

Ricky: "Daft cricket by MI, when they knew Sunil Narine is going to be difficult to pick/hit why didn't they attack the other bowlers. Balaji went for 11 runs in his 4 overs!! Don't mind them losing but no semblance of a fight disappoints me."

Mazhar: "Every bowler got a wicket today except for poor bhajji..."

Suva: "Narine is extraordinary again, but letÂŽs not forget BalajiÂŽs spell as well as KalisÂŽs last over back to back wickets, which I think is the turning point."

The presentation is beginning ...

Gambhir: "I don't think we had enough, but after losing two wickets early then 140 was a good total ... If we win the next one we'll be in the top two. If we had lost this we would have been under pressure. Today's win will give us confidence."

Harbhajan: "I don't think there was much fault in the wicket, I think we need to sort out our technique ... and how to bat in the first six overs." Harbhajan was quite vocal in his assessment of how Mumbai batted in the first six overs being crucial to their loss. "We haven't been playing grate cricket, good and bad in patches ... boys need to pick up their game ...me as well."

The Man of the Match is Sunail Narine. "I'm having a dream at this moment, hard work is paying off. Hopefully it will continue. I wasn't too worried about the wickets, knew they would help me, but not as much as this ..."

Thank you for all your emails today. I've had a lot of fun bringing you the commentary. Do join us tomorrow as well. Cheers.

19.1
W
Narine to Singh, OUT, caught on the deep midwicket boundary! RP Singh has slogged him straight to midwicket and Narine is now IPL 2012's highest wicket-taker. Abdulla is the catcher. Narine's finished with 4-15, it could have been 5 for 9.

RP Singh c Iqbal Abdulla b Narine 3 (7m 5b 0x4 0x6) SR: 60

Narine to finish what has been an awesome bowling performance.

END OF OVER:
19 | 3 Runs 1 Wkt | MI: 108/9 (33 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 5.68, RRR: 33.00)

  • RP Singh3 (4b)
  • Lakshmipathy Balaji4-0-11-2
  • Sunil Narine3-0-15-3
18.6
W
Balaji to Malinga, OUT, caught on the long-on boundary! Tiwary is the catcher once again, moving to his left to intercept the flat-batted slog from Malinga against a short of a length ball

SL Malinga c Tiwary b Balaji 8 (10m 6b 0x4 1x6) SR: 133.33

Adityan: "Hardly anyone noticed that Sunil Narine would be stealing the purple cap from Malinga if he gets one more wicket."

18.5
0
Balaji to Malinga, no run, the quicker short ball, Malinga backs away and slogs across the line, he makes no contact
18.4
1
Balaji to Singh, 1 run, the slower shorter ball, RP pulls awkwardly through square

Vikas: "But for the 6 Narine's figures would have been 3-0-8-4....Zipcodisque !!!"

18.3
1
Balaji to Malinga, 1 run, Malinga backs away and flat-bats a short of a length ball towards long-on
18.2
1
Balaji to Singh, 1 run, RP slogs at the short of a length ball and gets a edge towards point

MI 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st26SR TendulkarHH Gibbs
2nd34SR TendulkarKD Karthik
3rd6KD KarthikRG Sharma
4th17AT RayuduRG Sharma
5th13RG SharmaKA Pollard
6th0DR SmithRG Sharma
7th1Harbhajan SinghRG Sharma
8th7SL MalingaRG Sharma
9th4SL MalingaRP Singh
10th0MM PatelRP Singh