IPL 2017: Harbhajan Singh Congratulates Mumbai Indians After Win Over Kolkata Knight Riders
May 14, 2017 at 12:08 PM
The Mumbai Indians’ spinner Harbhajan Singh has congratulated Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu is his own unique style after the duo’s fifty-plus knocks propelled the team to a top spot via a win over Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens on Saturday (may 13).
The visitors were in a spot of bother when their in-form batsman Lendl Simmons was dismissed for a duck while their skipper Rohit Sharma departed cheaply too.
However, Tiwary and Rayudu not only steadied the ship with a 61-run stand but also set the platform for a good total. Tiwary, who was playing his first game this season, was run-out in an unfortunate manner after scoring 52 off 43 balls but his dismissal did not affect Rayudu who kept on playing the big shots. The right-handed batsman scored 63 off just 37 balls with the help of 6 fours and 3 sixes to steer Mumbai Indians to 173 for 5 in the allotted 20 overs.
In reply, Kolkata Knight Riders also were off to a disastrous start with Sunil Narine departing for a duck in the very first over but Chris Lynn and Gautam Gambhir set the one for the chase with a quickfire partnership of 41 runs off just 23 balls before the skipper was sent back by Mitchell Johnson. Some 12 runs later, the in-form Robin Uthappa departed too and the hosts found themselves in further trouble when Lynn was also dismissed on the same score. A flurry of boundaries from Yusuf Pathan and Colin de Grandhomme swung the pendulum in Kolkata’s side for a while but the dismissal of both the batsmen with only 128 runs on the board put Mumbai on top. The home side kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and were eventually restricted to 164 for 8.
The victory saw Mumbai Indians finishing the league stage at the top of the table with 20 points and will now have two shots to make it to the finals.
Meanwhile, a delighted Harbhajan Singh, who was rested for the game, took to Twitter to congratulate his team and especially Tiwary and Rayudu. Calling the duo Mumbai’s own Ram-Lakhan jodi, the Turbanator tweeted:“Way to go boys?? @mipaltan our own ram Lakhan Jodi is back @RayuduAmbati & #sourabh Tiwari important partnership.. @IPL.”
Way to go boys👊👍 @mipaltan our own ram Lakhan Jodi is back @RayuduAmbati & #sourabh Tiwari important partnership.. @IPL
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) May 13, 2017