Mumbai Indians booked a ticket to Hyderabad for the final after they handed a thumping defeat to the Kolkata Knight Riders by six wickets in the second qualifier at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Opting to bowl first, the Mumbai bowlers were on a mission as they sent back half of the KKR side to the pavilion with just 31 runs on the board. From then on, Ishank Jaggi (28) and Suryakumar Yadav (31) stitched a 56 run partnership before a flurry of wickets towards the end shot out the Kolkata Knight Riders for a paltry 107 runs in 18.5 overs. For Mumbai, leg- spinner Karn Sharma bowled an unbelievable spell as he ended up with four wickets giving away just 16 runs from his four overs. Jasprit Bumrah too had a dream spell as he finished with figures of 3/7.
In response, the Mumbai Indians suffered some initial setbacks as they were reduced to 34/3 at one stage with Piyush Chawla scalping two of them.
But Krunal Pandya (45*) and Rohit Sharma (26) held their nerve and guided Mumbai to a six wicket win and also to the finals of the tenth edition of the IPL.
It’s Mumbai vs Pune for the finals
The final on the 21st thus promises to be a cracker of an encounter for the two Maharashtrian teams for the fourth time in the tournament. Steve Smith’s men would have an edge over the Mumbai Indians courtesy the fact that they have beaten Rohit Sharma’s side for three times in this tournament.
However, the Mumbai players would like to focus on the fact that they would take on a Pune side who has no experience of playing in a final before.
Brief scores-
Kolkata Knight Riders 107 all out in 18.5 overs ( Suryakumar Yadav 31, Ishank Jaggi 28 ; Karn Sharma 4/16) lost to Mumbai Indians 111/4 in 14.3 overs ( Krunal Pandya 45*, Rohit Sharma 26 ; Piyush Chawla 2/34) by six wickets.
-Kolkata Bureau