IPL 2026: KKR remain in playoffs hunt with MI scalp
What's the story
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) delivered a stellar all-round performance to overcome Mumbai Indians (MI) in Match 65 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata. A solid bowling show helped KKR restrict the visitors to 147/8 in 20 overs. KKR had MI reeling at 95/6 after 16 overs. However, they conceded 52 runs off the last 4 overs. In response, KKR (148/6) did enough with the bat to earn victory and keep their hopes alive for a top-four finish.
Match overview
Green strikes early for KKR
Mumbai Indians struggled to get going on a tricky two-paced pitch. Ryan Rickelton (6) was the first to go, edging Anukul Roy's delivery to point where Manish Pandey took a stunning catch. Green then wreaked havoc with his seam bowling, dismissing Naman Dhir for a duck with an outswinger that caught the edge after repeatedly beating him outside off stump. This left Mumbai reeling at 17/2 in three overs.
Bowling dominance
Dubey dismisses Suryakumar, Rohit
The pressure on Mumbai mounted when Rohit Sharma (15) misplayed a delivery from Saurabh Dubey toward deep midwicket. Green completed a stunning catch while avoiding a collision with Rovman Powell, leaving MI at 24/3 in four overs. Despite Suryakumar Yadav's (15) brief resistance with a six, Dubey continued to trouble the Mumbai batters and ended up taking his wicket as they finished the powerplay at 46/4.
Spin control
Spinners tighten grip post rain break
A rain break halted play with Mumbai at 57/4 after eight overs. However, KKR's spinners maintained their grip post-resumption. Sunil Narine employed sharp turn and grip from the pitch to completely choke the middle order. He gave away just six runs in his first two overs, leaving MI at a slow 64/4 after 10 overs. Despite nursing a minor hairline fracture on his foot, Varun Chakravarthy also bowled well, conceding just four runs in his first over after the break.
Bowling pressure
KKR keep MI under wraps
Despite a scare when Varun dropped a high catch after nearly colliding with substitute wicketkeeper Angkrish Raghuvanshi, KKR's bowlers maintained the pressure. Kartik Tyagi dismissed Tilak Varma (20 off 32 balls) while Hardik Pandya was bowled out by Narine for 26 off 27 balls. Will Jacks's run-out for 13 further added to Mumbai's woes as Corbin Bosch sent him back while trying for a risky second run.
Final overs
Bosch, Chahar provide late flourish for MI
Bosch and Deepak Chahar scored nine runs in Tyagi's penultimate over and 13 in Saurabh's last, courtesy of back-to-back boundaries from Chahar. Bosch then hit consecutive sixes off Tyagi's last over, followed by a boundary as the visitors scored 52 runs in the last four overs. They eventually ended their innings at 147/8 in 20 overs with Bosch remaining unbeaten on 32.
KKR bowlers
Summary of KKR's bowlers
Anukul Roy bowled one over and clocked 0/6. Saurabh Dubey did well and claimed 2/34 from his 4 overs. Green picked 2/23 from 3 overs. Tyagi finished with two wickets for 37 runs off his 4 overs. Narine weaved his magic with figures worth 1/13 from 4 overs. Chakravarthy, who is nursing an injury, claimed 0/28 from his 4 overs.
Rohit
Rohit scores a 13-ball 15
MI opener Rohit scored a 13-ball 15 for his side. Playing his 8th IPL match of the season, Rohit raced to 283 runs at 40.42. He has hit two fifties with the best of 84. In addition to 21 fours, he has smoked 21 sixes. His strike rate is 160.79. He has faced 176 balls, as per ESPNcricinfo. Across 8 innings this season, Rohit has fallen inside the powerplay on three occasions.
Varma
Tilak Varma posts an unwanted IPL record
Varma scored 20 off 32 balls versus KKR. He slammed one six. His strike rate read 62.50. As per Cricbuzz, the last time in IPL a batter faced 30+ balls and scored at a lower strike rate was Chennai Super Kings' Michael Hussey in May 2012. He scored 19 off 32 balls (SR 59.37) versus Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur.
Do you know?
25 balls taken to hit first boundary
Varma, who shared a 43-run stand alongside Pandya for the 5th wicket, took 25 balls balls to hit the first boundary. It's the most number of balls taken by a batter for the first boundary this season, bettering Rajasthan Royals' Ravindra Jadeja (24 balls).
Narine
Sunil Narine weaves his magic versus MI
Narine bowled 16 dot balls in his 4-over spell against MI. His economy rate was a stunning 3.20. He gave away a solitary six. In 12 IPL games this season, Narine has claimed 14 wickets at 21.50 (ER: 6.40). Overall in the tournament, he raced to 206 wickets at 25.35 from 201 games. His economy rate is 6.77. As per ESPNcricinfo, Narine now owns 78 IPL scalps from 71 matches at 22.28 (Eden Gardens). His economy rate is 6.49.
Do you know?
Tyagi gets to 18 scalps in IPL 2026
KKR pacer Tyagi (2/37) now owns 18 scalps in IPL 2026 from 13 games at an average of 24.61. However, his economy rate of 9.41 is on the costlier side. Overall in the IPL, he owns 33 scalps from 33 games at 35.03.
Chase
How did KKR's chase pan out?
Finn Allen (8) was dismissed by Deepak Chahar in the 1st over itself. Ajinkya Rahane and Manish Pandey added 38 runs thereafter. Bosch broke the stand by dismissing Rahane before also getting Green (4) as KKR were reduced to 54/3. Pandey was joined by Rovman Powell and the two added a solid 64-run stand. Jasprit Bumrah removed Pandey before Powell fell prey to Allah Ghazanfar. Bosch then dismissed concussion sub Tejasvi Dahiya (11). However, KKR hung on to claim victory.
Pandey
Pandey shines with a gritty 45
Playing his 5th game of the season, Pandey got a chance to bat for only the 1st time. He came in at three with Angkrish Raghuvanshi subbed off and delivered the goods. Pandey scored 45 runs off 33 balls, hitting six fours along the way. He was dismissed by Jasprit Bumrah. He was part of a 64-run stand alongside Powell, which helped KKR steady their innings. Pandey now owns 3,987 runs from 179 IPL games (163 innings) at 29.53.
Information
Powell scored a vital 40
Powell also shone for KKR with a vital 40 off 30 balls. He hit 4 fours and 2 sixes. Across six innings this season, Powell owns 161 runs at 40.25. Overall in the 20-over format, he owns 6,105 runs at 25.65.
MI
How did MI's bowlers fare?
Chahar finished with 1/23 from three overs. Bumrah was solid and clocked 1/26 from 4 overs. Bosch was MI's best bowler. He claimed 3/30 from three overs. Spinner Ghazanfar bowled 4 overs and finished with 1/25. Pandya bowled 2 overs and posted 0/13. Raghu Sharma bowled 2 overs as well and managed 0/23. Will Jacks conceded 7 runs from 0.5 overs.
Information
A look at the points table
KKR have moved to 6th with this win over MI. From 13 games, they have 13 points (W6 L5 NR1). 9th-placed MI suffered their 9th defeat of the season from 13 games (W4).