There are few better sights in T20 cricket than Jasprit Bumrah in his elements. The Mumbai Indians (MI) pacer had not been on top this season by his lofty toe-crushing standards, but he was breathing fire against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the DY Patil Stadium on Monday.
The death bowling ace hit the good length and also got the short ones to rise and bite, claiming the best bowling figures of this Indian Premier League (IPL) season that read 4-1-10-5. It had a three-wicket maiden in the 18th over and 18 dot balls that single-handedly halted KKR’s surge towards a healthy total, eventually ending at a decent 165/9.
Even Bumrah’s brilliance couldn’t earn MI a third victory. Their brittle batting line-up—weakened further by the absence of the injured Suryakumar Yadav—came nowhere close to the target. MI, bundled out for 113, lost by 52 runs to keep KKR’s tiny window for a playoffs spot open. Save Ishan Kishan's 43-ball 51, none of the MI batters got going against a KKR bowling attack led by the returning Pat Cummins—one of their five changes—and Andre Russell.
The root of KKR’s batting issues this season—the revolving opening door and diminishing partnerships—turned out to be the least of their concerns on the day. After trying out six fresh pairs in the middle of the season, KKR went back to their original opening combination of Ajinkya Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer, and the comeback men delivered the team’s most productive 60-run foundation.
{{/usCountry}}The root of KKR’s batting issues this season—the revolving opening door and diminishing partnerships—turned out to be the least of their concerns on the day. After trying out six fresh pairs in the middle of the season, KKR went back to their original opening combination of Ajinkya Rahane and Venkatesh Iyer, and the comeback men delivered the team’s most productive 60-run foundation.
{{/usCountry}}Iyer (43, 24b) was the aggressor, smashing three sixes on the on-side with a ramp thrown in between. But after a heave over midwicket off left-arm spinner Kumar Kartikeya Singh, he top-edged the next ball to point.
Still, KKR would have gleefully taken a powerplay of 64/1. MI gave away only 23 in the next four overs before Rahane was bowled attempting a reverse sweep. Nitish Rana (43, 26b) though went on the offensive, cracking four sixes and one four in the eight balls he faced after Rahane’s wicket. At 136/3 after the 14, KKR aimed big.
Enter Bumrah. Exit Russell and Rana. Banging the ball hard on a length, Bumrah had Russell caught at long-on, and Rana fending and gloving a vicious short ball to the wicketkeeper. At 156/5 after the 17th, KKR still aimed at 180-plus.
Enter Bumrah again. Exit Sheldon Jackson, Pat Cummins and Sunil Narine. All were short and quick deliveries, the first two caught by good running efforts in the deep on the leg-side boundary and a hopping Narine by Bumrah himself.
A triple-wicket maiden 18th over was backed up by a one-run final over, with Rinku Singh unable to put Bumrah away. KKR settled for 165/9, Bumrah for a quiet high-five with his team-mates after a wave of charged-up celebrations.
A spell like that to end the innings can inspire chasing teams, but MI turned insipid from the time Rohit Sharma was given caught behind by the third umpire in the first over that the skipper disagreed with. The in-form Tilak Varma guided a rising Russell ball to slip as MI crawled to 37/2 in the powerplay.
The asking rate mounted to 10 off the last 10, and Tim David's three consecutive fours off Russell briefly brought it down to raise MI's hopes. Varun Chakravarthy soon had him holing out to deep midwicket. Cummins then did a Bumrah, dismissing a set Kishan, Daniel Sams and M Ashwin in the 15th over to all but end MI’s chase. It surely did when Kieron Pollard was run out a couple of overs later, and Bumrah too was caught short the next ball.