IPL 2021: Rahul Chahar's magical bowling helps MI defend 152 against KKR, registers 10-run win

Defending champion Mumbai Indian came up with a yielding display of bowling to tame former champion Kolkata Knight Riders by ten wickets in Match 5 of the 2021 Indian Premier League at the MA Chidambaram (Chepauk) Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday. It was spinner Rahul Chahar, whose rich four-wicket haul played a crucial role in the win.

KKR skipper Eoin Morgan won the toss and elected to bowl first, as he decided to move in with an unchanged XI. As for MI, Rohit made a change, with wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock coming in for Chris Lynn.

The defending champion was off to a shaky start, as with just ten runs on the board, de Kock fell for a mere couple to spinner Varun Chakravarthy after being caught by Rahul Tripathi in the second over. Nevertheless, Suryakumar walked in and, along with Rohit, took charge, contributing to a 76-run stand for the second wicket.

It was during this phase when Suryakumar scored his 12th IPL half-century. However, he could not last long and fell for 56 to spinner Shakib Al Hasan after being caught by Shubman Gill in the 11th over.

A couple of runs later, Ishan Kishan departed in the next over off pacer Pat Cummins as an attempted hook towards deep fine leg was caught by Prasidh Krishna. Rohit tried to take charge of the innings but could not manage anything beyond 40, as he was bowled up by the same man in the 16th over, while the score read 115/4.

Following Rohit's departure, the incoming batsmen struggled to get the partnerships going. Explosive all-rounder Hardik Pandya fell for just 15 to Krishna after being caught by Russell at long-off just eight runs later, in the 17th over. In the subsequent 29 runs, MI lost all its remainder five wickets, managing 152, with all-rounder Krunal Pandya scoring the most (15).

As for KKR, six bowlers were utilised, while it was Russell who nailed it in just a couple of overs by coming in the 18th over and claiming a fifer. Meanwhile, it was Shakib who was the most economical one.

FULL SCORECARD: IPL 2021, Match 5- Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians (KKR vs MI)

With KKR coming out for the chase, it was off to a great start, as the openers Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill contributed to a 72-run stand. It was only in the ninth over when spinner Rahul Chahar got the opening breakthrough after the latter fell for 33, as Kieron Pollard caught him at long-off.

Eventually, Rana brought up his 13th IPL half-century. However, it began lack of enough partnerships for KKR, as in the 11th over, at 84,  Rahul Tripathi fell for a mere five to the same man after being caught behind by de Kock.

Twenty runs later, skipper Morgan departed for just seven to the same man again after being caught by Marco Jansen in the 13th. In came Shakib, as Rana attempted to steer the innings. However, at 122, the latter was stumped for 57, while Chahar claimed his fourth in the 15th. The same score saw Shakib hand a catch to Suryakumar at deep sweeper cover for nine in the next over, as pressure began to mount on KKR, while MI was well back in the game.

As Dinesh Karthik and Russell looked to take KKR past the finish line, it became even tricky. Productive bowling from Krunal and Bumrah piled immense pressure on the duo, with the equation going down to 15 off the final six.

As pacer Trent Boult bowled the last over, he managed to get rid of Russell (9) and Pat Cummins (0), with MI eventually winning by ten runs. Barring the openers, none of the other KKR batsmen reached double figures.

For MI, seven bowlers were pressed into the attack, with Chahar nailing it with a four-for. As for the most economical of all, it was Krunal.
Brief scores: MI 152 (Rohit- 40, Suryakumar- 56; Russell- 5/15) beat KKR 142/7 (Rana- 57, Gill- 33; Chahar- 4/27) by ten runs.

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