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Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL

Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday defeated Mumbai Indians comprehensively after chasing down the target of 156 in 15.1 overs with 7 wickets in hand. The Riders first restricted the MI side to a below-par total and then Venkatesh Iyer and Rahul Tripathi stole the show with brilliant half  centuries, which helped KKR to win their 4th match of the season.

Just after the match was finished, many people thought that either Tripathi or Iyer would be awarded the Man of the Match award and the decision was no brainer for them to even think about anyone else for the award. However, the man of the match was given to KKR all-rounder Sunil Narine. The fans criticised the decision of not naming Venkatesh Iyer or Rahul Tripathi or Lockie Ferguson as Man of the Match. Notably, Ferguson had scalped more wickets than Narine and also bowled economically.

Check out some of the fans reactions:

The official page of IPL shared the news that Sunil Narine had been adjudged as the Man of the Match. IPL’s official page posted a picture of Narine and captioned the post as, “For his impressive performance with the ball, @kkriders' @sunilnarine24 won the Man of the Match award. ??.” This didn’t go well with the fans and they failed to fathom the decision. Some fans reacted on social media to condemn the decision.

Check out some more fan reactions:

 

Even though Narine was adjudged Man of the match, there were some other honors given to players like Rahul Tripathi, Venkatesh Iyer, Quinton de Kock and Andre Russell.

Tripathi was awarded two awards for his brilliant 74* off 42. He was awarded “Most Vaulable Asset of the Match” and “GameChanger of the Match” award. Meanwhile, Iyer was awarded with “Cred Power Player of the Match” award for providing a solid platform to chase the target. Iyer scored 53 off 30 balls. Russell was awarded “Perfect Catch of the Match” while De Kock was awarded “Let’s Crack it Sixes” award.

With this win, KKR rose to fourth spot - the final play-off spot - while Mumbai Indians slipped to sixth position in the points table after the loss. KKR has 4 wins in 9 matches, while MI also has 4 wins in 9 matches but has a inferior NRR.