So, Mumbai Indians ended their 13-year IPL opening match jinx with a sensational win over Kolkata Knight Riders in front of a buoyant Wankhede crowd. The match was all about runs, runs and more runs at the end of the day, as only eight wickets fell and 444 runs were scored across both innings.
At times like these, you tend to feel for the bowlers. It is never easy playing on tracks that have now become the norm in the IPL.
To begin with, it would be criminal not to doff your hat to Shardul Thakur, who picked up three wickets and dismissed KKR’s top three of Ajinkya Rahane, Finn Allen and Cameron Green.
Mind you, KKR were steamrolling the MI bowling at one point, and even Bumrah went for 11 runs in his first over. This is when Shardul did what he does best-pick up wickets.But this wasn’t the turning point of the game. It all comes down to the 12th over of the KKR innings, where Bumrah’s magic was in full flow.
HOW BUMRAH’S OVER CHANGED THE GAME FOR MUMBAI?
Before heading into this 12th over, let’s look at what happened in the game until that point. KKR got off to a dream start with the bat. Rahane and Allen added 69 runs off 32 balls, and Green came in and tried to continue the onslaught. Rahane was batting beautifully and 250-260 appeared to be on the cards at that point.
There were very few overs that went for single digits, and it seemed KKR were well on the ascendancy.
By the 10th over, KKR were 120 for two and sizing up a big total. They had Rahane and Angkrish Raghuvanshi going at a steady rate at this point, with Rinku Singh and Ramandeep Singh waiting in the wings.
That is when Bumrah came in for his second over. It followed the familiar template for the star pacer in the IPL-one in the powerplay, another in the middle, and two at the death.
The first delivery to Rahane was short and angled into the body, forcing him to guide it to third man for a single. The next ball to Raghuvanshi was a brilliant yorker, yielding just another run. Rahane then received a yorker he could only push for a single.
Another delivery, another yorker-this time Raghuvanshi couldn’t even get a run. The next ball was accurate in length, resulting in just another single. Bumrah did stray onto the pads once, but no damage was done. The stadium erupted in applause, and so did fans watching back home.
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