Suryakumar Yadav's successive half century and an all-round performance from Hardik Pandya powered Mumbai Indians to a 13-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders, keeping them in play-offs contention in the Indian Premier League. 


Yadav (59 off 39) continued his rich run with a fourth fifty of the tournament before Pandya (35* off 20) plundered the KKR attack to nudge the hosts to 181 for four. Yadav's opening partner Evin Lewis (45 off 28) too made a valuable contribution in the 91-run stand.


KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik (36* off 26) tried his best to get his team over the line but was unable to after the visitors needed 60 runs off the last 30 balls.


By the final over, KKR needed 23 runs and Krunal Pandya defended them comfortably with the innings ending at 168 for six. Robin Uthappa's (54 off 35) first fifty plus score of the competition also went in vain.


It was another much needed win for slow starters Mumbai, who had beaten KXIP on Friday. They remain in fifth spot in the standings with eight points, having earned their fourth win in 10 games. 


KKR, on the other hand, remain in the top-four with 10 points after their fifth loss in 10 matches.


Chasing a stiff 182, KKR lost both the openers Chris Lynn (17) and Shubhman Gill (7) quickly, leaving them at 28 for two.


Then Rana and Uthappa, who got a life on 4', resurrected the innings with an 84-run stand. They hammered spinners Pandya and Mayank Markande as the two amassed 30 runs in just two overs. Uthappa, who was dropped by Markande, smashed him for two consecutive sixes.


After Uthappa's and Rana's dismissal, the asking rate went up steeply and the target proved to be too much.


For Mumbai, Hardik (2-19) was the pick of the bowlers while Markande, Bumrah, Krunal and Mitchell McClenaghan picked up a wicket each.


Mumbai Indians innings


Mumbai opener Surya Kumar Yadav smashed another half-century (59 off 39) to power the hosts to at the picturesque Wankhede stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.


The opener combined with West Indian power-hitter Evvin Lewis to stitch a formidable 91-run for the opening wicket. Lewis, one the other, played a blistering knock of 43 from 28 balls.


In his 39-ball innings, Surya Kumar sent the ball sailing over the rope twice and touched the fence seven times.


However, all-rounder Andre Russell led the fight back for the purple and gold outfit, scalping the important wickets of the established openers.


Mumbai batsmen struggled the score runs in the middle overs but Hardik Pandya and JP Duminy made sure the hosts walk back with a decent total on the board.


Hardik made sure that Mumbai doesn't lose out on the momentum by scoring a 20-ball 34 that included an incredible one-handed six off Piyush Chawla.






Watch Lewis' monstrous six here


Toss


Kolkata Knight Riders put Mumbai Indians in to bat at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai. 


Mumbai Indians have fielded the same team that won against King XI Punjab in Indore on Friday while the visitors have included Nitish Rana in the playing XI, who is back fit from injury and Shivam Mavi is injured and makes way for Prasidh Krishna.


MI playing XI: Rohit Sharma (C), Evin Lewis, Ishan Kishan (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, JP Duminy, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Ben Cutting, Mitchell McClenaghan, Mayank Markande, Jasprit Bumrah.


KKR playing XI: Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik(w/c), Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Mitchell Johnson, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav


Preview


Looking, at last, like a team wanting to defend its title, Mumbai Indians' road to redemption in the Indian Premier League faces another tricky test, as they host a formidable Kolkata Knight Riders on Sunday.


The defending champions seemed resurgent after a tense win over Kings XI Punjab, though their play-off hopes were still hanging by a thread, thanks to a spate of reverses over the past few weeks.


The 21-ball 56-run blitzkrieg between Krunal Pandya and Rohit Sharma in Indore is history and MI will next need to tame KKR, who have a reputation of being fierce opponents, at the Wankhade Stadium.


MI's under-performing batsmen finally clicked last night against Kings XI and will look to replicate their performance against another top of the table outfit.


Mumbai jumped to the fifth spot having won three of their nine games while KKR are sitting comfortable in the third position. The hosts have to win all their remaining five games to make it to the play-offs.


For Mumbai Indians, Suryakumar Yadav (340 runs) has been in great form and has scored runs consistently.


But his opening partner, Evin Lewis, has been a disappointment and the home team will need to relook at its opening pair, especially after the West Indian's flop show at the Holkar International Stadium.


The hosts, however, will be pleased that skipper Rohit is back among the runs and will be looking up to him to lead them from the front.


Wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan, J P Duminy, Hardik Pandya and his brother Krunal, who played a splendid cameo against Kings XI, along with yesterday's Man of the Match Yadav and Sharma, make up a formidable batting line-up.


Out-of-form West Indian Kieron Pollard is expected to be benched again in favour of Ben Cutting.


An area where MI need to improve is their bowling in the death overs. While New Zealander Mitchell McLenaghan was hammered for three sixes in the final over by the Royal Challengers Bangalore batsmen, Hardik leaked over 20 runs in the final over against KXIP.


Jasprit Bumrah, Cutting and young leggie Mayank Markande (12 wickets) need to play their part to perfection if KKR's strong batting line-up is to be restricted. Krunal, too, needs to chip in with the ball along with Hardik.


Significantly, MI have won only one of their four home games, against RCB, this season.


It is a different story for KKR with skipper Dinesh Karthik leading the charge in style. Following an emphatic six-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings, KKR have jumped to the third spot and a third win on the trot will boost their qualifying hopes considerably.


Karthik has amassed 280 runs in nine matches but is still outside the top-10 list of leading run-getters and he's followed by Chris Lynn and Andre Russell, with 260 and 207 runs respectively, to their credit so far this season.


The firepower of Sunil Narine at the top and the emergence of youngster Shubhman Gill down the order provide KKR with one of the most devastating batting orders. Only vice captain Robin Uthappa has not played to potential.


KKR also boast of three quality spinners - Narine (10 wickets), Piyush Chawla (8 wickets) and Chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav (8 wickets). And if Nitish Rana, who was suffering from a back spasm, is back, it will add more variety to their attack.


KKR pacers Tom Curran, veteran Mitchell Johnson and rookie Shivam Mavi need to step up and deliver.


Teams


Kolkata Knight Riders: Dinesh Karthik (captain), Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, Chris Lynn, Robin Uthappa, Kuldeep Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Shivam Mavi, Mitchell Johnson, Shubman Gill, R Vinay Kumar, Rinku Singh, Cameron Delport, Javon Searless, Apoorv Wankhade, Ishank Jaggi, Tom Curran.


Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (captain), Suryakumar Yadav, Evin Lewis, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Mayank Markande, Mitchell McLenaghan, Mustafizur Rahaman, Jasprit Bumrah, Akila Dananjaya, Ben Cutting, JP Duminy, Rahul Chahar, Sharad Lumba, Adam Milne, Siddhesh Lad, Md Nidheesh, Mohsin Khan, Anukul Roy, Pradeep Sangwan, Tajinder Singh, Aditya Tare, Saurabh Tiwary.