IPL 2022 | MI vs KKR | Cummins spoil Mumbai's party as Kolkata plunges to a win

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) smelled trouble facing Mumbai Indians (MI) in the 14th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022; however, Pat Cummins came to his side's aid with the bat and led them to a supreme five-wicket win.

As Mumbai Indians gave the Knights a formidable target of 162 runs, the chase met with speed breakers, with KKR losing two wickets in the form of opener Ajinkya Rahane and skipper Shreyas Iyer inside the first six overs. 

Venkatesh Iyer held the one end, receiving some support from Sam Billings. The duo went along nicely, but Billings threw away his wicket to Murugan Ashwin while looking for quick runs. Nitish Rana also smashed a six early on in his innings, but as his pattern suggests, he got in the same over.

Then, the situation was set for Andre Russell to flex his muscles. The West Indian did connect a few shots but fell prey to a Tymal Mills' delivery. Then, while Venkatesh was playing a scratch inning, Pat Cummins walked in, went bonkers, hit 35 runs off an over and sealed them for KKR with four overs and five wickets to spare.

Cummins, today, hit the joint-fastest fifty in the history of the IPL, completing his half-century in just 14 balls.

Mumbai Indians were put in to bat by the KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer. Umesh Yadav again sprayed his magic on the surface and sent Rohit Sharma packing for three runs off 12 balls. Ishan Kishan had a rare failure as Cummins got rid of the southpaw.

With Mumbai in a dire situation, middle-order rose to the occasion. Debutant Dewald Brevis displayed his class straight away and played a 29-run knock, decorated with many outrageous shots. Suryakumar Yadav, who returned after an injury, seemed a bit rusty initially but gained momentum after spending time on the wicket. He top-scored for MI with 52 runs.

Young Tilak Varma dominated right from the word go and did not let the pressure get upon him. Tilak partnered with Kieron Pollard in the slog overs as both the batters took Mumbai to a total of 161 runs.

With this win, KKR has risen to the top of the table with three wins in four matches, while MI stayed at the ninth spot, having lost all of its games so far in the competition.

Brief scores:

Mumbai Indians - 161/4

Suryakumar Yadav 52 (36) Tilak Varma* 38 (27)

Pat Cummins 49/2

Kolkata Knight Riders - 162/5

Pat Cummins* 56 (15) Venkatesh Iyer 50 (41)

Murugan Ashwin 25/2

Kolkata Knight Riders won by five wickets