Bumrah picks 5, but KKR keep hopes barely alive

The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) defeated the Mumbai Indians (MI) in the fifty-sixth game of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL). The match was played in the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Jasprit Bumrah was adjudged to be the Man of the Match.

KKR's lower order blitzed by Bumrah

There are some match-ups that are better than others. In the 15th over of a well-established first innings, Jasprit Bumrah to Andre Russell is one of them.

Bumrah had only bowled one over prior to his reintroduction, allowing five runs and a well timed boundary first-ball. Russell was already swinging from the hip with a tremendous second-ball six to his name when he returned with KKR ominously situated on 136 for 3. What followed was nothing short of spectacular.

Bumrah's first pitch was a roaring yorker, as pinpoint accurate as such things can be. Russell used the straightest blade of his career to dig it out from below his toes. However, it was only a one-time break. Next ball, Bumrah slammed his ball into the pitch, coaxing a reckless swipe across the line as Kieron Pollard straightened himself to swallow a crucial long-on chance.

A well-set Nitish Rana slipped into Bumrah's sights three balls later - he'd cranked up his own speed with four sixes in eight balls, distracting Pollard in the process to reach 43 from 25. However, Bumrah had a solution for Rana's shaky footwork: a grille-seeking bouncer, gloved uncomfortably through to Ishan Kishan, whose conviction was upheld by UltraEdge in the appeal. It was game-changing stuff from Mumbai's most powerful weapon, and he hadn't even begun.

After a brief change of ends, Bumrah's third over began with a fast and ferocious delivery that skidded but still rose onto Sheldon Jackson's flighty pluck to deep midwicket, where Daniel Sams made a difficult chance look simple with a well-timed swoop to his left. He then greeted Pat Cummins - remember him? - with a fizzing bouncer, which the newcomer did well to avoid, but then sent him on his way with another rock-hard length, which even a man with a 15-ball 56 couldn't manage more than a cramped scuff to square leg.

Bumrah's final act was a complete snorter. As Sunil Narine retreated back into his crease to ride the bounce, he only managed to slice a looping opportunity through to the bowler as he stormed by on his followthrough. It deserved a lot more than a 5/10 in terms of performance. However, based on Mumbai's run-chase, it would have needed to be 10/10 to give his team a chance.

Cummins waits for his cue

You say hard lengths? KKR's most thoroughbred fast bowler, Cummins, may not have enjoyed his own evening in the firing line, but he was definitely taking notes when Bumrah was scalping him. Cummins reappeared in the 15th over with a match-up of his own in mind, in a reintroduction that had uncanny parallels to that of his opposite number.

After the controversial first-over demise of his skipper and opening partner Rohit Sharma, who was convinced he hadn't nicked the nipbacker from Tim Southee that offered up a variety of white noise on UltraEdge, Ishan Kishan cruised to a 41-ball half-century.

The ball that blew Kishan from the crease, however, was a body-cramping bouncer that Rinku Singh at square leg did a fantastic job clawing in as it swirled out of the floodlights. Cummins had gotten his target for the fourth time in 21 balls, and at a total cost of 22 runs and a score of 100 for 5, it was a devastating blow to MI's chances.

The chase had been diverted off a cliff after five balls and two more wickets. Cummins targeted Daniel Sams' helmet and picked off the feathery top-edge, and Sams could only muster an exchange of singles in his time at the crease. While Murugan Ashwin had the right idea when he curved inside the line for an uppercut, third man only had to hop on the rope's edge to pull down the third wicket of the over, leaving Pollard with too much to do.

Iyer takes field to give KKR chance

Venkatesh Iyer has had a disappointing IPL so far, and his absence from the side for the previous two matches was emblematic of a team that has gone through 20 players in 11 games, more than any other team, and still has no idea who their best XI is. His only prior notable score, an undefeated 50 from 41 balls, had likewise come against Mumbai previously. Iyer determined to be more forthright on his return to the top of the order at the cost of Baba Indrajith, perhaps emboldened by what he saw from the non-end striker's on that occasion - notably, Cummins' aforementioned match-swiping.

It may not have appeared likely at the time, but KKR won the game in the powerplay, and Iyer's onslaught was crucial, with each of his 43 runs from 24 balls coming while the field was up. He started with a flat-batted pull for six off Murugan Ashwin, who he also hammered through the covers in his first over, before moving on to Riley Meredith's pace, including a breathtaking ramp - more of a full-blooded uppercut to be fair - high over fine leg for another six.

To keep Iyer's innings going, Sams and Kumar Kartikeya Singh were launched for his third and fourth sixes, respectively, until the two men combined to stop him with a top-edge to cover. Rana, on the other hand, received the message with a fourth-ball four to set up his own important effort, sealing a six-over total of 64 for 1 - KKR's greatest start of the competition. In the end, Mumbai only managed to match that score in another shambolic performance.