Pollard falls for 21 as KKR beat Mumbai

ABU DHAB (CMC):

West Indies Twenty20 International captain Kieron Pollard failed to dazzle with the bat, but Rahul Tripathi and Venkatesh Iyer did, and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) beat Mumbai Indians by seven wickets in the Indian Premier League on Thursday.

Pollard, eyeing form and confidence before the ICC Twenty20 World Cup from October 17 to November 14 in the United Arab Emirates and Oman, was run out for 21, after Mumbai were put into bat at the Zayed Cricket Stadium and posted 155 for six from their 20 overs.

Iyer scored his maiden IPL half-century of 53 and Tripathi slammed an unbeaten 74 off 42 balls, as the Knight Riders chased down the target with 4.5 overs to spare.

Iyer and Shubman Gill gave Knight Riders a flying start before the irrepressible Jasprit Bumrah broke their stand in the third over.

Knight Riders were 40 for one, but Tripathi joined Iyer and made sure that their side did not lose any momentum in the chase.

The pair added 23 in the final three overs of the powerplay as Knight Riders moved to 63 for one, and the big hitting did not stop there.

Iyer and Tripathi continued the attack on the Mumbai bowlers, scoring 48 runs in the next four overs to take the Knight Rider to 111 for one after 10 overs.

Both batsmen completed their half-centuries and an 88-run stand before Bumrah removed Iyer and Knight Riders captain Eoin Morgan, the England T20I captain, and Tripathi took Knight Riders over the finish line.

Bumrah ended with an expensive 3-43 from his four overs.

Earlier, South Africa wicketkeeper-batsman Quinton de Kock and India international Rohit Sharma gave Mumbai a solid start of 78.

But Knight Riders managed to break the opening stand when West Indies spinner Sunil Narine dismissed Rohit in the 10th over.

Three overs later, Mumbai lost Suryakumar Yadav cheaply, but de Kock hit 55 from 42 balls before he fell in the 15th over to keep them rolling.

Narine was named Player-of-the-Match for a tidy spell of 1-20 from four overs and fellow West Indian Andre Russell leaked 37 in three unsuccessful overs.