It was almost a do or die clash for the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium against purple and gold army Kolkata Knight Riders. Obviously, team Mumbai Indians knew that they had to play as a unit and deliver an all-round performance and that’s what they did. KKR won the toss and elected to bowl and invited the hosts to bat. Suryakumar Yadav who has been one of the most consistent players for the Mumbai Indians chipped in with a 59 runs off 39 balls. Evin Lewis was too was handy with 43 runs from 28 balls.

Players including skipper Rohit Sharma, Krunal Pandya and JP Duminy made way to the pavilion soon but contributed with double digits. Hardik Pandya came was extremely good with 35 off 20 balls thus helping the team reach the total of 181 runs. However, it seemed that the runs on the board were short of what Mumbai Indians had expected. (You can watch the video highlights of the match here)

All the bowlers apart from Ben Cutting scalped wickets. Hardik Pandya came in handy with the bowl once again with a couple of wickets and both the openers Shubham Gill and Chris Lynn made way to the pavilion quite early. At various junctures, KKR proved to be harmful as it looked like that they could walk away with the game. But they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. However, it was redemption day for Robin Uthappa who broke the jinx and left no stone unturned to save the team. He scored 54 off 35 balls and his innings comprised six 4s and three 6s which brought him reach the mark of 4000 runs. However, the KKR wicket-keeper once again made a blunder with a poor shot selection and as and Mayank Markande sent him packing.  Karthik pulled off a cameo hitting a couple of fours and a six. The team needed 23 runs from 16 balls. Skipper Karthik once again pulled off a stunner with a tall six and a four, but that just didn’t seem enough. (Check out the full scorecard here).

Full marks to Hardik Pandya who made a vital contribution with the bat and the ball. Overall, it was a good day for the Mumbai Indians as they jumped on to number 5 at the IPL 2018 Points Table. With this all-round performance, the Men in Blue keep their hopes for the semis alive. They will once again play KKR at the Eden Gardens on May 9, 2018. (IPL 2018 Points Table)

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 06, 2018 09:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).