Published 23:44 IST, September 23rd 2020
IPL 2020: Rohit Sharma leads from front as Mumbai defeat Kolkata by 49 runs, bags 2 points
Earning their first two points in the IPL 2020, Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai defeated Kolkata by a huge margin of 49 runs on Tuesday at Abu Dhabi
Earning their first two points in the Dream 11 IPL 2020, Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai defeated Kolkata by 49 runs on Tuesday to bag their first two points of the season. The Mumbai Paltan put up a complete performance as they dominated with both - the bat and the ball as well. While skipper Rohit Sharma led the squad from the front helping Mumbai set up a target of 196, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah along with James Pattison ensured that Kolkata never get going.
In response to Mumbai's mammoth target, Kolkata had a very slow start as openers Sunil Narine and Shubman Gill failed to fire. Despite the early losses, skipper Dinesh Karthik promoted himself up the order and steadied the innings along with Nitish Rana on the other end.
After skipper Karthik was trapped plumb by Rahul Chahar, Kolkata fans expected fireworks as Andre Russell and Eoin Morgan paired up, however, the Mumbai Paltan kept the beasts caged and eventually the Caribbean power-hitter was bowled by Jasprit Bumrah.
The Mumbai speedsters put up a great display of fast bowling as the trio - Boult, Bumrah & Pattison - dominated Kolkata completely. Bumrah made a brilliant comeback as he had poor outing against Chennai but dominated completely today as picked up two key wickets while giving away 32 runs, with 27 runs coming off his last over as Pat Cummins played a short cameo.
Mumbai set a target of 196
As Dinesh Karthik won the toss and chose to field first, Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai suffered an early jolt as Quinton de Kock was dismissed in the very second over. It was then Rohit Sharma who anchored the innings along with Suryakumar Yadav as the former gave Pat Cummins a run for his money with a couple of sixes. The duo looked dangerous as they got going, however, a brilliant run-out from Sunil Narine helped Kolkata get a significant breakthrough.
Despite Surya's departure, nothing stopped the Mumbai skipper as he continued to slaughter Kolkata bowlers. Sharma missed out on a well-deserved century as he was dismissed by Shivam Mavi. however, Hardik Pandya took off from where the skipper left before he was unfortunately sent back courtesy of a hit-wicket. The Kolkata squad managed to pull things back with some tight bowling during the death overs restricting their opponents to just below 200.
Updated 23:44 IST, September 23rd 2020