IPL 2023: Venkatesh Iyer's ton in vain as Ishan Kishan's fifty guides MI to 5-wicket win over KKR

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 16 : Venkatesh Iyer's maiden ton went in vain as Ishan Kishan's fifty and Suryakumar Yadav's quick-fire knock of 43 runs guided Mumbai Indians (MI) to a 5-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
Kishan scored the highest for Mumbai with 58 off 25 while Suryakumar played a fine knock of 43 runs in 25 balls. For KKR, Suyash Sharma bagged two while Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakaravarthy and Lockie Ferguson claimed one wicket each.
Chasing a target of 186, Mumbai got off to a fiery start as their openers Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma hammered Shardul Thakur for 16 runs in the second over of the game. The Mumbai duo continued their blistering form as they slammed Umesh Yadav for 17 runs with the help of two sixes and one four.
The constant strike rotation and picking up boundaries for fun kept the pressure off Mumbai. The Mumbai openers settled in with loose deliveries on offer and made use of the scoring opportunities given by the Kolkata pacers.
Kishan in red-hot form slammed Sunil Narine for 22 runs in the 4th over with the help of two sixes and brought his team's score beyond the 50-run mark.
The aggressive pair piled up beyond 60 runs in 5 overs, however, the 65-run partnership between the openers was broken as Suyash Sharma dismissed Rohit for 20.
The right-handed batter Suryakumar Yadav then came out to bat. Kishan kept his red-hot form going as he brought up a 21-ball half-century in the 8th over of the game. After slamming a maximum in the 9th over, Kishan fell prey to Varun Chakaravarthy's stunning ball. Ishan Kishan departed not before scoring a cracking 52 off just 22 deliveries.
Tilak Varma then came out to bat. The Mumbai batters rotated the strike brilliantly, not allowing the Kolkata bowlers to settle down while whacking the loose balls on offer. Suyash Sharma then produced a stunning delivery to bowled Tilak Varma for 30 off 25.
Tim David then came out to bat and slammed Chakaravarthy for 15 runs with the help of two maximums. Suryakumar then fell prey in the 17th over to Shardul Thakur after scoring 43 runs.
Nehal Wadhera then came out to bat but could to do much as he was sent back to the pavilion after scoring just 6 runs. In the 18th over David guided his team to a 5-wicket victory over KKR.
Earlier, Venkatesh Iyer became the first player to score a century for Kolkata Knight Riders in 15 years as his blistering knock of 104 (51) took KKR's tally to 185/6 in 20 overs against Mumbai Indians.
In the absence of Rohit Sharma, Surya Kumar Yadav stepped up to take the MI's charge. He gave the ball to the young MI debutant Arjun Tendulkar, who bowled an impactful over to kick off the game.
MI found an early breakthrough as Cameron Green picked up his first wicket of the match as Hrithik Shokeen took a diving catch to dismiss N Jagadeesan for a four-ball duck in the second over.
Rahmanullah Gurbaz soon followed the footsteps of his opening partner in the final over of the powerplay. Gurbaz's struggle was clearly evident in the initial overs but he tried to reignite his innings by attempting to score boundaries in Piyush Chawala's over.
However, his shot ended straight in the hands of Duan Janssen. Nitish Rana and Venkatesh Iyer tried to bring back KKR innings on track after an initial slow start.
Venkatesh stepped on the pitch and started to score runs at regular intervals. On the other end, before Nitish Rana could settle on the pitch he lost his wicket to Hrithik Shokeen. A heated exchange was witnessed between the KKR skipper and Shokeen as Nitish seemed unhappy about something Shokeen had said to him as he walked back to the pavilion.
MI players came quickly to cool down the matter and avoid any sort of delay in the game. While other wickets kept falling on a consistent basis Venkatesh went on to play according to his own will.
At the end of 10 overs, KKR had a score of 104/3.
After Shardul Thakur was dismissed by Shokeen in the 13th over for a score of 13(11), the in-form batter Rinku Singh stepped in and held on to the other end as Venkatesh went on a rampage.
Iyer lost his wicket in the 18th over to Riley Meredith. He scored 104 runs which included six fours and nine sixes. Andre Russell came forward to play a short cameo as Rinku failed to live up to his status in the final over. Russell scored 18 (18) which included two boundaries.
Russell played an unbeaten knock of 21(11)* to take KKR's tally to 185/6 in 20 overs.
Brief scores: Kolkata Knight Riders 185/6 (Venkatesh Iyer 104, Andre Russell 2; Hrithik Shokeen 2-34) vs Mumbai Indians (Ishan Kishan 58, Suryakumar Yadav 43, Suyash Sharma 2-27).