Mumbai: Manish Pandey's late blitz lifted Kolkata Knight Riders to 178/7 against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede stadium here on Sunday. Pandey remained unbeaten on 81 in 47 balls with five sixes and as many boundaries. He hammered Mitchell McClenaghan (1/51) for 23 runs in the last over to finish the innings with a flourish.
Playing their first game at home after a glittering opening ceremony here, Mumbai Indians chose to bowl first but were on the back foot immediately. The visitors helped by some erratic seam bowling raced to 44 for no loss in four overs. Jasprit Bumrah (1/39) gifted two free hits in his first over. Gambhir and Lynn had remained unbeaten in ten-wicket win over Gujarat Lions in their first game and they carried on the from.
Lasith Malinga (2/36) who replaced Tim Southee in the playing XI didn't find his rhythm initially and went for a few runs along with his fast bowling partner McClenaghan.
Mumbai spinners, however, kept a tight leash in the middle overs and bagged crucial wickets to keep KKR batsmen under check. Skipper Rohit Sharma went for slow bowlers in the fifth over and it worked immediately as left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya (3/24) struck twice. Gambhir's (19) sweep was nicely pouched by McClenaghan at square leg. Robin Uthappa (4) holed out to Hardik Pandya.
The scoring-rate dipped further after Bumrah trapped dangerous Lynn (32) in his comeback spell. Harbhajan Singh who was included in place of injured Ambati Rayudu troubled KKR batsmen especially Manish. Yusuf Pathan (9) failed to get going but Pandey in company of local boy Surya Kumar Yadav (17) resurrected the innings.
Malinga returned to break the 44-run partnership for the fifth wicket. The Sri Lankan also dismissed Chris Woakes.
