IPL 2022 KKR vs MI: Pat Cummins, Venkatesh Iyer as the highlights of the match

Kolkata Knight Riders won against Mumbai Indians by five wickets in the 14th game of IPL 2022 season at the MCA Stadium in Pune, that took place on 6th April, 2022.

Kolkata Knight Riders captain, Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bowl against MI. KKR put MI through extensive pressure with some disciplined bowling. KKR made two changes to their XI as Pat Cummins came in for Tim Southee and RAsikh Salam replaced Shivam Mavi. MI captain, Rohit Sharma seeked improvements on multiple fonts to effect a turnaround when they faced KKR, who came into the game after beating Punjab Kings by six wickets. 

Opting to bowl after winning the toss, KKR witnessed MI recover from 55 for three in the 11th over to post 161 for four. Pollard struck three sixes against Cummins after he leaked 23 runs from his last over. Consequently, Suryakumar Yadav, who was making his comeback from the injury, scored a staggering 52 runs and stabilized Mumbai’s innings after early blows. Tilak Varma also contributed with 38 runs. 

Although things started to look unstable for KKR, Pat Cummins and Venkatesh Iyer made sure that the team emerged victorious. Earlier, along with Yadav and Varma’s 52 and 38 respectively, Kieron Pollard also imparted a quickfire knock of 22 runs off just 5 balls. For KKR, Cummins returned with two wickets. Umesh Yadav got the better of opposition skipper Rohit Sharma, after which MI was unable to accelerate further. Not wanting to give up, Dewald Bravis tried bringing some shots in to put the innings back on track but Sam Billing’s excellent stumping put a stop to his stay.  

Mumbai Indians tried to put up a good fight but in reply, KKR turned the tables on them while chasing down the target of 162 with 24 balls to spare. Pat Cummins blasted 56 off 15 balls, while consequently Venkatesh Iyer remained not out on 50. For MI, Yadav made 52 off 36 balls and tilak with 38 in 27 deliveries although this wasn’t enough for them to win this one.

Although it was claimed that Andre Russell’s comeback was to be the greatest asset for KKR, it was the Australian captain Pat Cummins who knocked the lights out for MI in today’s match. His fluidity and excellence in techniques had become the most beautiful to the audience and least to say left the opposition quite dumbfound, needless to say, even speechless- “the only befitting reaction to that murder on the outskirts of Pune”, as per Sriram Veera.

We can safely conclude that this was a match to behold and KKR has definitely raised the bar for themselves as the audience waits in anticipation, hoping to see another spectre.