Mumbai Indians top table after fourth win

Mumbai Indian cruised to their fourth win in five games and claimed the top spot in the IPL 2017 points table from Kolkata Knight Riders with a six-wicket win against Gujarat Lions at the Wankhede stadium on Sunday (April 16). Brendon McCullum (64 off 44) and Dinesh Karthik (48 off 26) struck crucial knocks for the visitors but Nitish Rana (53 off 36) and Kieron Pollard (40 off 29) ensured Mumbai Indians emerged victorious in front of the partisan crowd.

The match was neatly poised in the chase with 71 needed off last seven overs. Mumbai had just recovered from a mini wobble where they had lost Nitish Rana and Jos Buttler (26) in quick succession. With concerns mounting over Rohit Sharma’s form, this was his chance to guide the team home. Rohit played a sensible innings of an unbeaten 29-ball 40 while Pollard smashed his way to 39 off 23 to create an easy passage to the win.

Lions had been put under pressure throughout the game but did well to absorb it and fight their way through. However, Mumbai Indians bossed the last seven overs to snatch the win.

Nitish Rana has been the find of the IPL 2017 so far. Two half-centuries in the tournament has helped him become the highest run-getter after 16 games this season. After the failure against Royal Challengers Bangalore, Rana gave Mumbai the perfect platform to launch an assault in the end.

Rana walked in in the very first over after Praveen Kumar dismissed Parthiv Patel for a duck. He was dropped by Jason Roy, when on 9, off the bowling of Basil Thampi. The score was 11 for 1 at that stage. By the time Rana was dismissed in the 10th over, the score had swelled to 85, with Rana contributing to 53 off those.

On a dry Wankhede surface, Lions had lost Dwayne Smith early after being asked to bat. Both Brendon McCullum and Suresh Raina found it hard to get going as Mumbai made a good start with the ball. That’s when McCullum’s resilience came to the fore. While Raina continued to chug along, McCullum collected the crucial boundaries to take the score to 46 for 1 at the end of the powerplay. It was then that the former New Zealand captain gave the inning the much-needed impetus even as he lost Raina from the other end.

He took on Harbhajan Singh and Lasith Malinga while Ishan Kishan, who walked in at No. 4, struggled against some quality bowling. McCullum stroked a 44-ball 64 before he was bowled by Lasith Malinga in the 14th over.

The scorecard at that stage read 99 for 3 and there was plenty of work left to be done considering the chasing capabilities of Mumbai. Dinesh Karthik has been exceptional for the franchise so far and carried on with his good form, smashing an unbeaten 26-ball 48. What stood out from Karthik was that he was able to take runs off the bowling of Jasprit Bumrah and Malinga, propelling the team to a very competitive total.

Malinga conceded 51 runs, the most he has given away in any IPL game, from his four overs for his one wicket while Bumrah leaked 45 runs from his four overs. That’s 96 runs from eight overs from bowlers who are accustomed to bowling at the death and have done it considerably well. This also highlights how crucial Karthik’s effort was as he helped the team collect 41 runs in the last three overs.

Lions will return to home comforts after the loss and will take on Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 18 in an evening clash. Mumbai, on the other hand, will travel to Indore to take on Kings XI Punjab on April 20. – TOI