Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Mumbai Indians by 34 runs to keep their hopes of reaching the playoffs. It was a festival of shot making as over 400 runs were scored on a batting friendly deck at Eden Gardens, where KKR had lost their last four games. Mumbai Indians remain at number three on the points table while KKR climb up.
Here are the three takeaways from KKR's win over MI:
Perfect start for KKR
KKR came into the match with a six-match losing streak and the Kolkata franchise had never beaten the Mumbai Indians in their last eight encounters.
But, today it was a different story from the start as KKR looked to end their misery. Shubman Gill scored 14 runs off the first over from Barinder Sran. KKR were kept in control for most of the powerplay but the home side kept the scorecard ticking as they reached 50/0 in 6 overs.
Gill's opening partner Chris Lynn unleashed on the mediocre MI bowlers as he got to his fifty in 27-balls with eight fours and two sixes. Lynn was the first to depart after putting on 96 runs off 57 deliveries with Gill.
Gill reached his highest IPL score of 76 runs before he was KKR's last man to depart with the score on 158. Gill hit six boundaries and four maximums in his 45 ball innings.
Andre Russell bosses over Mumbai
Russell, who is having a great tournament with bat, joined Gill after Lynn's departure. Andre Russell took his time to settle on batting heaven at Eden Gardens.
Once he got the groove, he went after the Mumbai bowlers scoring 50 runs from the last 17 deliveries he faced as KKR went from 177/2 in 17 overs to finish with a big 232/2 in 20 overs.
During his 40-ball 80, Rusell hit six deliveries to the fence and eight of them over it. With his eighth six, Russell reached fifty sixes in this year's IPL becoming only the second player after Chris Gayle to achieve the feat in a single season.
Russell faced most of the deliveries in the death over as KKR skipper finished with 15 off seven deliveries.
Russell's day wasn't over as he starred in the target defence too. When all his teammates were going for almost 10 runs an over, Russell bowled an economical spell of 2/25 from his four overs.
Russell bossed over the fielding as well while grabbing two catches and receive the Man of the Match award.
Pandya show can't help Mumbai
Mumbai never looked in contention to win the match as they started poorly, losing Quinton de Kock for a duck, in the second over. They were reduced to 58/4 in 8.2 overs before Hardik Pandya came in.
Pandya went about thrashing KKR bowlers from the start of his innings. He first put on 63 runs for the fifth wicket with Kieron Pollard and then another 64 runs for the sixth wicket with brother Krunal Pandya.
Pandya, though undergoing cramps, was in top form as he kept MI's hopes alive until his departure in the 18th over. Hardik scored 91 runs off 34 balls with a strike rate of 267.
He displayed his shot-making skills while hitting six fours and nine sixes in his innings. Pandya wasn't provided a platform as the top ordered faltered without making a significant contribution.