Mumbai Indians won by 5 wickets over Kolkata Knight Riders in the 22nd match of the IPL 2023 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Mumbai Indians won the toss and opted to bowl. Put into bat, Kolkata Knight Riders got off to a poor start as both openers got out very cheaply. However, Venkatesh Iyer smashed a scintillating hundred (104 off 51) and helped his side put up 185 runs in 20 overs.
While chasing, Ishan Kishan scored a quickfire fifty whereas Suryakumar Yadav scored 43 off 25. Along with them, a few contributions from others helped them sealed the deal in 17.4 overs.
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Here is what the captains and the player of the match said after the game:
Venkatesh Iyer, Player of the Match said as quoted by Cricbuzz: Would have been happier if we would’ve finished on the winning side but happy with my performance. They’ve shown faith in me and it was a very beautiful wicket to bat on. Once you’ve scored those 30-40 runs, it’s just about how you continue. Both of their new ball bowlers were swing bowlers and when you allow swing bowlers to settle down, it can be a problem. So I used my feet, went deep in the crease. After the ball stops swinging it’s about how you manoeuvre. I keep getting hit in every game here and there. The thought about going out came but my coach and players urged me to keep going. I think we fell 15-20 runs short. But given how MI were going, they would’ve chased it down in the next over anyways. But their death bowling was very nice. If we look at their last three-four overs, they didn’t give away too many runs. Credit to them.
Suryakumar Yadav, MI stand-in captain said as quoted by Cricbuzz: We had a chat in the dugout, we just had to carry the momentum from the previous game and the boys put on a show. I would have loved to finish the game but very happy with how things went. In the afternoon, I thought the wicket was a bit dry but the way the guys batted, it settled down in the evening. At Wankhede, 180-190 is quite chaseable and Ishan took us off to a great start. (On his form) I relaxed and had an easy walk to the wicket, took my time for the first 6-7 balls. And then I thought if I get my eye in I can take it forward. Absolutely, we just need to bat smart in the first 7-10 overs and later on we know what kind of firepower we have. We just did the same thing today and hopefully we carry it forward into the next few games. (On Piyush Chawla) That was a legendary spell from his side, he puts his hand up under pressure and he is a great character.
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Nitish Rana, KKR captain said as quoted by Cricbuzz: I think we were 15-20 runs short. Credit to PC bhai (Piyush Chawla) for the way he bowled. Feel bad for Venky, he scored a hundred, played so well but finished on the losing side. The whole team knows this was the second hundred for a player from KKR. Other players from our side will also score hundreds going forward. They targeted our best bowlers and it paid off for them. We could have done better in the powerplay. I would want my bowling unit to deliver more. Anyone can have a bad game or two but it it is happening consistently with us. We will go back to the dressing room and talk about it.
