Mumbai vs Kolkata: heroes and zeroes from Match No. 33

mirohitsharmasweepsMumbai Indians clinched a thrilling win as they stunned Kolkata Knight Riders by five wickets at Eden Gardens on Wednesday. Harbhajan Singh came up with his six to give Mumbai Indians a ray of hope in this IPL but it was Dwayne Smith who went on to score 62 runs and tilted the balance in Mumbai’s favour. Sunil bowled brillaintly to bring KKR back into the game.

Earlier’ it was some impressive performances from the pair of Pragyan Ojha and Lasith Malinga who restricted KKR to a total of 159 runs.

Here we bring before you the hit and flops from the match.


HITS

Dwayne Smith: Smith played an exceptional knock of 62 runs which was decorated with three fours and five sixes. He started off slowly but his stay at the crease ensured that runs will come quickly. He forged a good partnership of 35 runs with Dinesh Karthik and gave MI a much needed stability.

Sunil Narine: Narine proved his master class once again as he deceived Sachin Tendulkar with his off-spin and got him out in his first over. He picked up the wickets of Dwayne Smith and Rohit Sharma at very crucial stages as he ended up with the figures of 3/17.

Rohit Sharma: Rohit was once again the torch-bearer for MI as he scored 34 off just 28 balls. Sharma did a brilliant work as captain as his bowling changes were really impressive. However, there are lots of things which he needs to pick up and make smart use of his resources.

Jacques Kallis: Kallis was once again sensational with the bat as he went on to score 37 runs off 38 balls. He was looking in good touch but he got tempted by the flighted delivery of Pragyan Ojha and was caught at covers. He didn’t bowl because of an injury and that's not a good sign for KKR.

Pragyan Ojha: Ojha was fantabulous with the ball as he picked up two wickets and gave away just 21 uns. He was tossing the ball brilliantly and was making the good use of the wicket. He needs to be bit more consistent and he can be amongst the wickets more often.

Lasith Malinga: Malinga was at his usual best in the death overs and picked up couple of wickets in his final over. His final over turned out to be crucial as he gave away just three runs and restricted KKR to a competitive total of 159 runs.


FLOPS

Sachin Tendulkar: Birthday-boy disappointed his fans as he was clean bowled by Sunil Narine. He scored just two runs in the match and was surely affected by not getting much strike in first four overs. It would be interesting to see if Mumbai Indians rest the Master Blaster for one or two matches in orde to check their bench strength.

Sachithra Senanayake: Senanayake was beaten mercilessly for three fours and four sixes in his spell of four overs. He gave away 50 runs in his four overs and picked up the wicket of Dinesh Karthik which was a misjudgement from umpire.

Iqbal Abdulla: Abdulla turned out to be the worst bet for KKR as he neither picked up wickets nor he contained the batsmen. He got smacked for 34 runs in his four overs and making him bowl too early in the match was surely not a good decision from Gautam Gambhir.

Harbhajan Singh: Harbhajan went for 35 runs in his two overs. He was smashed for 26 runs in his very first over. Rohit made the smart choice by not allowing him to bowl his quota of four overs which could have easily added 20 runs in their run-chase.

By Amit Chopra
Indian Sports News Network

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