Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
Playing the first match of the season, the key players owned the 14th match of the Indian Premier League. While one of them pulled off a stunning victory for his side, two just made valuable contributions to their side. Pat Cummins' heroic promoted Kolkata Knight Riders to the top of the table, Suryakuamr Yadav (52 off 36) and Dewald Brevis (29 off 19) steered Mumbai's innings and helped the side to post a competitive total on board.
Cummins's blistering half-century and Venkatesh Iyer's well mature knock defeated five-time champions Mumbai Indians by five wickets on Wednesday in the 14th game of the Indian Premier League 2022. KKR continued to lose wickets at regular intervals during their run chase, but unbeaten Iyer (50 off 41) and Pat Cummins (56 off 15) snatched the victory from the jaws of Mumbai Indians, handing over their third successive defeat in the season.
Earlier, Suryakumar Yadav (52 off 36) and Tilak Verma (38 off 27) guided Men In Blue to a respective total of 161-4 in 20 overs of their first innings. Skipper Rohit Sharma again failed with the bat as he wasted 12 balls to score three runs before he was dismissed by Umesh Yadav's 3rd over of the first innings. Debutant Dewald Brevis also played some scintillating shots and added 29 runs on board with a strike rate of 152 but was hunted down by Varun Chakravarthy. Pollard's 22 off five balls bolstered MI's inning as it took the total to 150 plus. The 14th match of the season brought some noteworthy power hitting and was studded with many blistering knocks which changed the game around. Let's take a look at a few of the match's highlights.
1. Dewald Brevis' power-packed debut
20-year-old Brevis came with a heavy reputation after being a match-winner for South Africa U-19 in the recently concluded U-19 World Cup. Although he had to warm benches for two matches, he made sure that no one wrote him off when he arrived. He played a crucial 29-run knock in 19 balls and built a vital 39 runs partnership with Ishan Kishan to rescue the side from a mini batting collapse.
2. Ajinkya Rahane's blunder in fielding
Rahane is regarded as a quality batter and top-notch fielder. While his struggle continued with the bat, he made an extraordinary blunder during the first innings of the game. SKY tried to pull a short ball from Umesh Yadav; it took a top-edge and went into the sky before Rahane attempted to catch it. The catch, which was supposed to be taken by the keeper, Rahane attempted and, guess what missed it. Pleased with that misfielding, Yadav went for two successive boundaries and showed his mood.
3. The 83-run partnership between Tilak Verma and Suryakumar Yadav
Mumbai Indians are heavily banking on their youngsters, and their youth brigade is not disappointing them either. In the game, Tilak Verma (38 off 27) and Suryakumar Yadav's 52 off 36 rescued Mumbai Indians and helped the side post some respective total on board. Both the players played some of the best shots in the book and smashed the bowlers.
4. Kieron Pollard's last over heroic
The Caribbean all-rounder is one of the most experienced match-winner in the tournament. In the game against Kolkata Knight Riders, he again proved why his presence in the squad is so significant. When he came to the crease in the last over of the first innings, Mumbai's score was reading 138-3 and in front of him was top-seeded bowler Pat Cummins. 2, 6, Wd, 2, 6, 6 was the reading by the end of the over and notably; Pollard played every delivery. Mumbai's score read 161-4 after the end of the over.
5. Venkatesh Iyer's steady 50 off 41
Iyer could not score enough with the bat in the first three matches but got much-needed backing from skipper Shreyas Iyer. While KKR was about to suffer a mini-collapse, Venkatesh Iyer took things under control and held the fort from one side till Pat Cummins stole the show. Iyer played all kinds of shots and put a price tag on his innings as he stayed unbeaten till last. He scored an unbeaten half-century in 41 ball, which was one of the takeaways from the match.
6. Pat Cummins' 15-ball fifty
Least to say, Cummins now shares the joint-fastest fifty in the tournament. And he did it in his debut match of the season. Pat Cummins is bowling all-rounder but turned things around as he started smashing the bowlers all-around right from the first ball. Cummins' innings were studded with six 6s and four 4s as he scored 56-runs off just 15 balls. It was Pat Cummins' blistering knock that helped KKR to finish the game in just 16 overs.