Kolkata: Kolkata Knight Riders, after suffering six consecutive losses, finally found a win as they defeated Mumbai Indians by 34 runs at Eden Gardens here on Sunday. The victory helped KKR to move to the fifth spot in the IPL points table.
Though KKR won the match, Hardik Pandya stole the thunder of the game, as the Mumbai all-rounder smashed 91 runs off just 34 balls en route to the fastest fifty of the ongoing season of the cash-rich league.
Mumbai, who were chasing a mountain size target of 233 runs in 20 overs, kept losing wickets in regular intervals until all-rounder Hardik hammered Kolkata bowlers all over the park.
Hardik took just 17 balls to score his third Indian Premier League fifty. He smashed 34 runs off his next 17 balls before Gurney got the better of Indian all-rounder in the 18th over.
Hardik scored 91 runs off 34 balls with the help of nine sixes and six fours.
Earlier, Kolkata Knight Riders rode on half-centuries from Chris Lynn, Shubman Gill and Andre Russell to post a mammoth 232/2 in their 20 overs against Mumbai Indians.
Also, earlier in the day, Delhi Capitals beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 16 runs at Feroz Shah Kotla stadium here to jump to the top of the points table and seal their playoffs berth for the first time since 2012. Meanwhile, the loss ended RCB's IPL 2019 campaign.
Chasing a mammoth 188-run target, RCB could only muster 171/7 in 20 overs. Amit Mishra starred with the ball for Delhi, restricting RCB's run flow in the middle overs and bagging two wickets.
Meanwhile, the Orange Cap is still held by David Warner with 611 runs while Purple Cap belongs to Kagiso Rabada who has 25 wickets in his kitty.
