KKR become first team to qualify for play-offs as Rohit Sharma and Hardik Pandya fail again

The 25-year-old was ultimately snapped up by Sunil Narine for a 22-ball 40 in the 7th over before Varun Chakaravarthy sent back Rohit for 19 in the very next one as the Indian skipper’s form continued to be a cause of concern before the upcoming T20 World Cup.

The Kolkata bowlers would continue to peg the MI batters back with the visitors scoring 81/2 after 10 overs, needing 77 from the last 6. With the pressure mounting, Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav tried swinging at everything but the latter was sent back to the pavilion by Andre Russell for just 11.

Kolkata: Mumbai Indians’ captain Hardik Pandya walk towards the pavilion after being dismissed by Kolkata Knight Riders’ Varun Chakravarthy during an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 T20 cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians, at the Eden Gardens, in Kolkata, Saturday, May 11, 2024. (PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra)

Skipper Hardik Pandya fell to Chakravarthy for just 2 as his nightmare season continued before Russel sent back Tim David for a duck as MI’s innings imploded. Naman Dhir and Varma almost gave KKR a late scare but Harshit Rana snapped both to hand the hosts the win by 18 runs.

Rare failure for the KKR openers

Before Saturday’s match, at least one of the Kolkata openers would fire if the other failed. But both Narine and Phil Salt failed to click here.

Kolkata: Mumbai Indians’ Jasprit Bumrah celebrates the wicket of Kolkata Knight Riders’ Sunil Narine during an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 T20 cricket match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians, at the Eden Gardens, in Kolkata, Saturday, May 11, 2024. (PTI Photo/Swapan Mahapatra)

Narine would last just one ball. He looked to leave a Jasprit Bumrah corker which swerved late and got his off stump rattled.

Captain Shreyas Iyer would continue his hot and cold form in the season, cleaned up by Kamboj for just 7 runs as KKR went 3 down in the powerplay.

Middle order steps up

Venkatesh Iyer steadied the innings, smashing Bumrah for two fours and a six.

Iyer loves playing against MI, had scored a scintillating century against them at the Wankhede last season and had also chipped in with 70 in the same venue this season. He couldn’t complete his half century this time around as Piyush Chawla picked him for 42. But by then Kolkata had found some sort of a rhythm.

He was supported by a returning Nitish Rana who showed little ring rust by playing a plethora of shots, the standout of which was a late cut against Pandya in the 8th over. The former KKR skipper would not have luck on his side, however, as he was run out for 33 in the 12th over.

Russell, who replaced Venkatesh in the middle, started like only he can, depositing Chawla for a six in the very second ball he faced and followed it up with a four. The bowler would strike back in the 13th over when he snapped up the burly striker for a quickfire 24 off 14. In the fag end of the innings, Rinku Singh and Ramandeep Singh chipped in with 20 and 17 respectively as KKR posted 157/7 after the allotted overs, a score that proved to be too much for MI to scale.