Duminy, Zaheer script Mumbai win over Kolkata

Jean-Paul Duminy struck an unbeaten half-century to set up Mumbai Indians' fine nine-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League here on Friday, reports Rakesh Thapliyal. See Full Coverage| Listen to podcast

For a moment, it seemed the Kolkata Knight Riders’ flags had begun flying at ‘half mast’ even before the last ball of the match against Mumbai Indians had been bowled at the Buffalo Park on Friday.

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In yet another meek surrender, the Shah Rukh Khan-owned Knight Riders lost their fifth match — this time by nine runs — as their chances of making it to the semifinals were dealt a big blow by the Sachin Tendulkar-led team.

Disappointing would be a mild word to describe the mood in the KKR camp. Even as the Mumbai Indians fans invaded the ground to congratulate the winners, the Knight Riders' cheerleaders had packed up for the day and left in a hurry — unnoticed.

The atmosphere here was festive to say the least but the fewer number of big hits coming from the bats of the Mumbai Indians cricketers, who batted first, was a dampener. Just eight boundaries and six maximum hits were not enough to satiate the crowd’s hunger, although South African batsman Jean-Paul Duminy's late charge (52 no off 37 deliveries) gave them some reason to cheer.

MI paceman Zaheer Khan further killed the contest by snaring three wickets for 31 runs, including the prized wickets of Sourav Ganguly and Chris Gayle.

But, just when it seemed the Knight Riders' innings would fold up inside 100 runs, came the effort of Brad Hodge, who hit a 60-ball 73. But once he departed, the match was as good as over for the Knight Riders.

Mumbai Indians: S Jayasuriya c Wyk b Dinda 6 (8b, 1x4), S Tendulkar c McCullum b Agarkar 34 (30b, 3x4, 2x6), Harbhajan c Dinda b Kartik 6 (7b), A Nayar b Hodge 10 (13b, 1x4), J Duminy not out 52 (37b, 1x4, 4x6), G Napier c McCullum b Gayle 15 (16b, 1x4), A Rahane c Gayle b Sharma 10 (8b, 1x4), Z Khan not out 2 (2b)

Extras (b 3, lb 3, w 6, nb 1) 13;

Total (6 wickets) 148;

Fall of wkts: 1-19, 2-40, 3-54, 4-71, 5-96, 6-131;

Bowling: I Sharma 4-0-24-1 (1nb, 2w), A Dinda 3-0-27-1 (1w), L Shukla 3-0-25-0, M Kartik 3-0-20-1, A Agarkar 1-0-12-1 (1w), C Gayle 4-0-21-1 (1w), B Hodge 2-0-13-1.

Kolkata Knight Riders: C Gayle b Khan 7 (7b, 1x4), S Ganguly b Khan 0 (1b), B Hodge run out 73 (60b, 5x4, 3x6) M van Wyk c Duminy b Napier 32 (35b, 3x4), L Shukla b Khan 6 (7b), B McCullum c Malinga b Nayar 5 (7b) W Saha not out 8 (4b, 1x1) A Agarkar not out 0 (0b);

Extras (lb 1, w 6, nb 1) 8

Total (6 wickets) 139;

Fall of wkts: 1-1, 2-8, 3-97, 4-119, 5-130, 6-132; Bowling: Z Khan 4-0-31-3 (1nb, 1w), G Napier 4-0-27-1, Harbhajan Singh 4-0-24-0, S Malinga 4-0-23-0 (2w), S Jayasuriya 1-0-13-0 (2w), A Nayar 3-0-20-1 (1w).