MUMBAI, India, CMC – West Indies pair of retiree Sunil Narine and World Cup-bound all-rounder Andre Russell failed to fire with the bat, but they sparked with the ball, and Kolkata Knight Riders held their nerve to clinch a 24-run win against hosts Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League yesterday.
Narine, opening the batting, made eight, and Russell, batting at eight, got seven, but KKR rode a top score of 70 from Player-of-the-Match Venkatesh Iyer and 42 from Manish Pandey before they were bowled out for 169 in their latest match at the Wankhede Stadium.
Jasprit Bumrah was the pick of the MI bowlers with three for 18 from 3.5 overs, and Sri Lanka pacer Nuwan Thushara got three for 42 from his allotted four overs, while the embattled Hardik Pandya ended with two wickets. Narine then snared two for 22 from his four overs with his off-spin, and Russell warmed up for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup next month in the Caribbean and the United States when he bagged two for 30 from four overs with his pace bowling to help in the demolition of MI for 145.
But lanky Australia left-arm fast bowler Mitchell Starc was the pick of KKR bowlers taking four for 33 from 3.5 overs, including three wickets in four balls in his final over, to seal the win for the visitors.
Suryakumar Yadav hit the top score of 56 for MI and World Cup-bound Australia all-rounder Tim David got 24, but the rest of the batting failed to come up to scratch in the chase.
KKR fortify their hold on second in the 10-team table with 14 points from seven wins in 10 matches, and the struggles continue for MI in ninth with six points from three wins in 11 matches.
