Mumbai Indians (MI) secured a thumping win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by nine wickets at the Wankhede Stadium to finish at the top of the points table. Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav shared a match-winning stand to clinch the tie convincingly.
Batting first, Kolkata managed to post only 130 runs on a good batting wicket. The visiting side lost the momentum soon after the powerplays and lacked partnerships. Although Chris Lynn played his shots, a middle-order collapse and sluggish knock from Robin Uthappa didn’t help their cause. Also, the dismissal of Andre Russell for a duck made things worse for them.
Mumbai Indians chased down the target with 23 balls to spare. Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav fine-tuned their touch ahead of the crucial playoff games. While Rohit remained unbeaten on 55 runs, Suryakumar chipped in with 47 runs to secure a nine-wicket victory at the home ground. While Rohit played the shots, Suryakumar looked to rotate the strike and hold the stead from one end. Speaking at the end of the game, the senior cricketer admitted that this is the role for him in this edition.
“That’s the role they have given me in this tournament – support the batsmen at the other end and bat as long as possible. Very happy, we will try and continue the same thing going forward. We just wanted to keep things simple and that’s what happened,” Suryakumar said at the end of the match.
Furthermore, Suryakumar Yadav admitted that it was a complete team effort. He also laid the importance of Rohit Sharma during the knock who guided him throughout the partnership. Suryakumar noted that the qualifier game against Chennai Super Kings will be a tough encounter and also thanked the fans for turning out in great numbers.
“He (Rohit) told me to stay at the crease because the runs will come automatically. He is a senior player and he guided me. The bowlers did a fantastic job, it was a complete team effort.
It is going to be a big game (Qualifier 1 against CSK), we will think of it as just as another game. They (MI fans) have been brilliant, when I came out of the hotel today, they were massive in numbers. Thanks to them for all the support,” he concluded.