Match Review of Eliminator 1: Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders

Indian Premier League - Match review
Date : 25th May 2011 Match No. : 72
Teams : Mumbai Indians vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Play-Off : Eliminator Venue : Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
Umpires : Simon Toffel and Asad Rauf Third Umpire: P. Reifel
Toss : Mumbai Indians won the toss and elected to field

Playing XI

Kolkata Knight Riders J. Kallis S. Goswami Gautam Gambhir © Manoj Tiwary Yusuf Pathan RN ten Doeschate Shakib Al Hassan Bret Lee Rajat Bhatia Iqbal Abdullah L. Balaji

Mumbai Indians A. Blizzard Sachin Tendulkar © Rohit Sharma Ambati Rayadu Harbhajan Singh T. Suman K. Pollard Dhawal Kulkarni L. Mallinga Munaf Patel J. Franklin

Eliminator 1 - Mumbai Indians vs. Kolkata Knight Riders. The Indians set to host the Knight Riders in the 72nd match of the season which is an eliminator round of the tournament. Rules are clear, the winner-takes it all progressing towards the finals and the loser would be knocked out of the tournament straightaway. There is not going to be any second chance for the loser of the eliminator round.

Mumbai would remain the favorites in this contest as they are playing on the home ground and they have the psychological advantage of winning the last match between the two teams. But still the Indians have their own reasons to be worried because after a wonderful start to the tournament they suddenly kept slipping down in their last few performances. A team that looked invincible in the initial phase of this season gave pretty ordinary performances towards the end. Riders were likely to be in some sought of psychological pressure after having lost to the Indians in a close match the other night. Otherwise they have looked impressive under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir who seems to be determined to prove himself as a captain. It's a completely balanced side for a 20-20 format, the only concern being that their lead seamer, Bret Lee seems to have gone off the radar and has not been accurate and hence bleeded too many runs. The Wankhede pitch has always proved to be the batsman's paradise. Team batting 1st should put up a total of 170 plus to make it a competitive chase. The Mumbai skipper Sachin Tendulkar won the toss and decided to put opposition to bat.

The visitor's innings was opened by the skipper Gambhir and Kallis. It was a nightmarish start for the Riders as they lost Kallis to Munaf Patel early in the 2nd over itself. But it was just the beginning, the situation got worst when Harbhajan Singh who was introduced in the 3rd over itself, clean bowled the skipper Gambhir cheaply on 4. The horrendous dream was still not over as the Riders soon found themselves completely down and under after having lost 4 crucial wickets at a score of just 20 runs at the end of the 1st power-play. With top 4 batsmen back in the stands, the rest of the batting line up came under tremendous pressure. Yusuf Pathan and Doeschate were the two new men at the crease. The Riders were struggling on the run rate as it was kept under 4 an over by a very disciplined bowling by the Indians. They both tried to restore the innings but were not in a position to take risks. They managed to take the innings beyond the 50 runs mark. Thereafter Pathan took on the weak bowler Kulkarni and dispatched the ball to boundary few times.

Sensing that the partnership could prove fatal, skipper Tendulkar immediately applied his captaincy skills and brought Munaf Patel back in into the attack. The decision proved to be right as Pathan was brilliantly caught by Pollard on the boundary while trying to hit Patel for a six. Pathan scored 26 of 24 deliveries and the visitors were now 5 wickets down for 80 in the 13th over.

Doeschate at the other end showed great character and looked determined to stand all through the innings. He was joined by the all rounder Shakib Al Hasan. The purpose of sending Hasan above Rajat Bhatia was to enhance the run rate. Though Hasan may not have the best looking shots in his dairy but still managed to hit few boundaries of Mallinga. This partnership of 41 runs of just 25 deliveries gave some momentum to the Riders innings. Hasan got out to Malinga after scoring a quick 26 of just 16 balls.

Doeschate was not joined by the Rajat Bhatia who is a very composed bowler and can also hit the ball very well and can contribute valuable runs in the death overs. The visitors were once again very unfortunate when Bhatia got run out while trying to convert a single to a double. With wickets falling at other end, Doeschate tried hard to take the team's total to beyond the 150 runs mark but could manage only 147 runs on the board. He played a brilliant knock of 70 of 49 deliveries hitting six 4s and three 6s. Still a great recovery by the Knight Riders considering the horrible start they had.

148 to win was not tough but few wickets and things change very quickly in this format of the game. The total could have turned to be a winning total, if the legendary bowler Lee got his line and length right. The home side has huge depth in the batting order and can bat till No. 9. Blizzard was brought back into the side as he is capable of giving the team the desired start and can make best use of the power-play overs. He along with Sachin opened the Mumbai innings.

Unlike Riders, the Indians had a cracking start with Blizzard hitting the bowlers all over the rope. Sachin at the other end kept his cool and tried to give his partner as much strike as possible. The first 8 overs of the innings were a complete contrast for the two sides. The visitors lost too many wickets and the home side put up an impressive 80 runs opening partnership. Blizzard's contribution of 50 runs of just 31 deliveries took the home side to 81 runs in just 7.5 overs.

The opening partnership made things easier for the rest of the batsmen. Rohit Sharma the new man in was brilliantly run out by Gambhir on a duck. Tendulkar was the next man to go after scoring 36 of 28 balls and the team was now 92-3 in the 11th over. Though wickets kept falling but as the required run rate were never above 6, the Indians were always in control of the situation.

Four wickets fell between the 8th and the 14th over. The middle order batsmen Rayadu, Pollard and Suman failed to deliver and their wickets in quick succession took the score to 133 for 6 at the end of the 18th over. Though it was just a matter of another 15 runs required of the last two over, but the disciplined bowling of Kallis and Hasan did create some pressure on the Indians towards the end.

The Riders captain choose Hasan to bowl the ultimate over. James Franklin and Harbhajan Singh were the two men at the crease and the Indians required 7 runs to win. Harbhajan picked up the second ball of the over and hit the spinner for a huge six, completing the run chase for his side and taking them to the semifinals. Franklin's handsome unbeaten knock of 29 of 25 balls steered the Indians to a four wickets victory with four balls to spare.

With this win the Mumbai Indians get through to the semi-finals where they would meet the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday, 27th May. The winner of this contest would then play against the Chennai Super Kings on Saturday, 28th May.

Result: Mumbai Indians won by 4 wickets.

The Awards

Man of the match
Munaf Patel for his outstanding bowling 3 wickets for 27runs.

Maximum Sixes
Ten Doeschate for hitting 3 huge sixes.

Kingfisher Fair Play Award
Chennai Super Kings tops the chart.

Orange Cap (The leading run scorer)
Chris Gayle- Royal Challengers Bangalore

Purple Cap (The leading wicket taker)
Lasith Mallinga- Mumbai Indians

Question of the day
Can Mumbai Indians beat RCB?



Last Updated on 26 May 2011