IPL Results 2016: T20 Scores, Schedule, Table After Indians vs. Knight Riders
Mumbai Indians kept their Indian Premier League play-off chances alive with a six-wicket win over Kolkata Knight Riders on Thursday, thanks to some late heroics from Kieron Pollard and a great knock from Rohit Sharma.
Gautam Gambhir had set the tone for Kolkata, scoring 59 from 45 to start their innings on the right foot, and Knight Riders would eventually settle for a total of 174, which seemed like a safe score.
Sharma kept Mumbai's chase alive with an unbeaten 68, however, and Pollard scored 51 from 17 to pull his team across the finish line with room to spare.
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Here’s a look at the latest IPL standings:
| 1 | GL | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | +0.037 | 962/115.1 | 955/114.5 | 10 |
| 2 | KKR | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +0.611 | 909/109.1 | 904/117.1 | 8 |
| 3 | MI | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | -0.104 | 1286/155.1 | 1277/152.1 | 8 |
| 4 | DD | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | +0.244 | 738/92.4 | 727/94.1 | 6 |
| 5 | SRH | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | -0.086 | 812/101.1 | 887/109.2 | 6 |
| 6 | RPS | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | +0.320 | 867/105.4 | 845/107.1 | 4 |
| 7 | RCB | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | +0.230 | 953/100.0 | 899/96.4 | 4 |
| 8 | KXIP | 6 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | -1.174 | 870/118.4 | 903/106.1 | 2 |
The following is the schedule for the upcoming IPL fixtures:
| April 29 | 3:30 p.m./8 p.m. | Rising Pune Supergiants vs. Gujarat Lions | Pune |
| April 30 | 10.30 a.m./4 p.m. | Delhi Daredevils vs. Kolkata Knight Riders | Delhi |
| April 30 | 3:30 p.m./8 p.m. | Sunrisers Hyderabad vs. Royal Challengers Bangalore | Hyderabad |
| May 1 | 10.30 a.m./4 p.m. | Gujarat Lions vs. Kings XI Punjab | Rajkot |
| May 1 | 3:30 p.m./8 p.m. | Rising Pune Supergiants vs. Mumbai Indians | Pune |
For the full schedule, visit the IPL's official website.
Knight Riders vs. Indians
Mumbai, 178/4 (Sharma 68, Southee two for 38) beat Kolkata, 174/5 (Gambhir 59, Narine two for 22) by six wickets (with 12 balls remaining).
Mumbai won the toss and elected to field, opting to face the star duo of Gambhir and Robin Uthappa (36 from 20) early. The Knight Riders’ openers got their innings off to a fine start, with Uthappa, in particular, aggressively seeking the boundary.
He was caught by Pollard in the eighth over, but by that time, Kolkata had already scored 79 runs and seemed to be on their way to a solid total. Cricket writer Ayaz Memon thought Indians were aiming for a total under 170:
Shakib Al Hasan lasted just four balls before he was caught, but Suryakumar Yadav (21 from 17) and Andre Russell (22 from 16) made solid contributions to the innings, and a quick 19 from eight from Yusuf Pathan pushed the total to 174.
Per Memon, Tim Southee missed two key catches that could have made a major difference to the target:
Southee led Indians with two wickets, while Harbhajan Singh was the most efficient bowler, finishing with figures of one for 32 through his four overs.
Sharma and Parthiv Patel opened for Mumbai, and while the latter lost his wicket in the second over, scoring just the single run, the former and replacement, Ambati Rayudu (32 from 20), set a solid pace to start the chase.
Indians had scored 68 after seven overs, which was right on pace with the required run rate, but after Umesh Yadav caught Rayudu, the chase started to falter. Jos Buttler added 15 for 15, but it wasn't enough, as Mumbai's run rate fell behind that of Kolkata.
With 30 balls remaining, Mumbai needed 49 runs, a difficult task against a Kolkata squad known for its bowling prowess. Pollard exploded in the 16th over, however, smashing three sixes off Rajagopal Sathish and scoring 23 runs by himself.
Memon thought the win was all but assured from that point:
Pollard kept finding the boundary and ended the match with three sixes in the 17th over, as Mumbai chased down the target with room to spare.
Sunil Narine finished with figures of two for 22 to lead Kolkata's bowlers, but his team-mates couldn't contain the Indians' attack when it mattered the most. Jaydev Unadkat endured a rough evening, giving up 49 runs in three overs of work.
Per ESPNcricinfo, Gambhir refused to make any excuses, saying: "We are not going to give excuses. We didn't bowl well. We are also 15 runs short."
Mumbai have the attacking firepower to keep up with just about any IPL team, but consistency has been an issue throughout the season. Thursday's performance was the batsmen's best of the campaign so far, however, and given they were able to come through against Kolkata's vaunted bowlers, that's a promising sign.
Making the play-offs won't be easy, but the defending champions have the experience to make some noise if they do survive the group stages.
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