MI 155/6 in 20 Ov (De Kock - 55(42); Narine - 1/20) lost to KKR 159/3 in 15.1 Ov (Tripathi 74*(48), V Iyer 53(30); Bumrah 3/43) by 7 wickets.
In this article of #FlashbackFavourites we reminisce about KKR’s dominant victory against MI at the storied Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi. KKR had their backs against the wall after the restart of the IPL 2021 season in the UAE, and were looking too for back-to-back wins to climb up the points table. A rejuvenated approach and a positive mindset led to the Knight Riders lay out a smashing performance against MI.
While bowling first, KKR applied pressure on the opposition batters right from the outset, allowing no momentum whatsoever to the MI batting line-up. As a result the wickets came in thick and fast, Sunil did his favorite thing - Picking Crucial Wickets! On the other hand, the pressure applied from one end led to wickets falling at the other as the pacers Lockie Ferguson & Prasidh Krishna picked up 2 wickets apiece. An excellent overall bowling performance led to MI being restricted to 155 as the Knight Riders looked to cash-in on the momentum.
One would’ve thought the run-chase would be a tricky one with the likes of Bumrah & Boult in front of KKR. However, Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer had different ideas. Gill stepped out 2nd ball of the chase and deposited it out of the stadium while Iyer smashed his first one out the ground. Both the openers took the aggressive route and surprised the opposition with some incredible stroke-play. Even though the KKR lost Gill early in the run-chase, Rahul Tripathi came in all guns blazing. A brisk fifty at the top of the order by Venkatesh who put everyone on notice with this outstanding performance & a calculated innings by Tripathi saw KKR chasing the target down in just 15.1 overs. Outstanding performances from Iyer, Tripathi, Narine led to KKR completing a win to remember and this win will stay in the minds of KKR for a long period of time.
