IPL 2017: Pandya brothers steal Manish Pandey’s show in MI vs KKR thriller

Hardik Pandya hit an 11-ball 29 to guide Mumbai Indians to a thrilling victory in their 2017 Indian Premier League encounter on Sunday. Earlier, Krunal Pandya’s 3/24 stemmed Kolkata Knight Riders’ quick start but they reached 178/7 thanks to Manish Pandey’s aggressive 81*.

At 130 for five after 17 overs, hardly anyone would have given Mumbai Indians a chance to chase down Kolkata Knight Riders’ 178/7. (HIGHLIGHTS)

Hardik Pandya of the Mumbai Indians celebrates after hitting the winning runs against Kolkata Knight Riders in their 2017 Indian Premier League match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.(BCCI)

However, the hosts made it possible with 48 runs needed in 17 balls, to win the match by four wickets in their first clash at the home ground Wankhede Stadium on Sunday and open their win account in IPL 10. (MATCH SCORECARD)

Mumbai Indians came back into the chase after taking 19 runs off the 18th and 19th overs as the hosts brought the equation down from 49 runs off 18 balls to 11 off the final over.

Hardik Pandya (29 no off 11 balls) completed the chase with one ball to spare.

Rana lifts MI

Delhi youngster Nitish Rana with a crucial 29-ball 50 brought MI back into the game. Once Pollard departed for 17, Rana stepped up to take the battle head on. He slammed 19 runs in the 18th over bowled by Trent Boult.

In the penultimate over, Rana slammed the first ball of Ankit Rajpoot for six over wicketkeeper Robin Uthappa and again smashed a low full toss to the fence over the mid-off fielder. He, however, fell immediately after bringing up his half-century, caught at point.

Dubious decisions hurt MI

MI were once again victims of poor umpiring. First Jos Buttler (28) was adjudged leg before when the ball was missing leg stump. Rohit Sharma (2) was unlucky after umpire CK Nandan failed to spot the big inside edge, leaving the MI skipper fuming. The quick blows proved a setback after the flying start.

Pandya’s crucial blows

KKR began their innings in rampaging fashion, reaching 44 runs in first four overs. Pandya immediately provided the much-needed breakthroughs to apply brakes to the scoring.

Pandya first removed KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir (19) after Mitch McClenaghan timed his jump perfectly at square-leg.

New batsman Robin Uthappa, who also began in aggressive fashion, was nicely set up. By bringing the slip in, Uthappa went for a slog sweep, ending up mistiming it to Pandya’s younger brother Hardik at deep midwicket.

Pandya claimed his third wicket in his final over and it was once again his younger brother who took the catch. Yusuf Pathan sliced it but it didn’t get enough power to clear the long-on fence.

Pandya‘s triple strikes left KKR struggling at one point where they scored only 50 runs in nine overs.

Lynn flops, Pandey fires

Manish Pandey top-scored with an unbeaten 81 to help KKR post a solid total. His innings came at a crucial time. The biggest relief in MI camp came after Bumrah removed the dangerous Chris Lynn, who was trapped leg-before for 32 off 24 balls.

Lynn’s dismissal hampered KKR’s momentum as the visitors managed a boundary after 35 balls.

Pandey, meanwhile, went about his business quietly, stitching a 44-run fifth-wicket stand with Suryakumar Yadav before exploding towards the end. In the last three overs, KKR managed to score 42 runs, including some lusty blows from Pandey in the final over, to take 23 runs off it.

Later, Lynn badly injured his left shoulder while attempting a diving catch of Buttler and had to leave the field. KKR made several mistakes in the field towards the end.