IMAGES from the Indian Premier League match played between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
Ishan Kishan (58) and Suryakumar Yadav (43) led the charge as Mumbai Indians handed Kolkata Knight Riders a five-wicket defeat in their IPL 2023 match in Mumbai on Sunday.
The fastest century in IPL 2023 for Venkatesh Iyer -- 104 off 51 balls -- went in vain for KKR, who suffered their ninth defeat in 10 matches at the Wankhede Stadium, and an overall 23rd in 32 matches against Mumbai Indians.
The highlight of Mumbai Indians' win was not just their sturdy response with the bat chasing 186, but their stand-in captain Suryakumar bounced back to form with a 25-ball 43 laced with four fours and three sixes.
Interestingly, regular captain Rohit Sharma played as an impact substitute owing to a stomach bug as MI won with 14 balls to spare.
Tim David struck an unbeaten 24 off 13 balls with two sixes and a four as MI recorded their second successive win while chasing.
The platform, however, was laid early by Kishan and Sharma, who went hammer and tongs from the second over onwards to add 65 for the first wicket in 4.5 overs, attacking the KKR pacers Umesh Yadav and Shardul Thakur in particular.
KKR managed to break through, with Yadav taking a fine diving catch at mid-on off Suyash Sharma in the fifth over.
Sharma fell for a 13-ball 20 with two sixes and a four after helping MI past 50-run mark inside four overs.
On the other end, Kishan brought up his fifty in 21 balls with five fours and four sixes. His charge was stopped by Varun Chakravarthy, with the KKR mystery spinner cleaning up Kishan after a 25-ball 58 with five sixes and as many fours.
The rookie leg-spinner Suyash claimed his second wicket in the form of Tilak Varma, in the 14th over, who played one onto his wickets after a 25-ball 30 having added 60 from 38 balls with Suryakumar for the third wicket.
Earlier, Iyer's maiden IPL century powered Kolkata Knight Riders to 185/6 against Mumbai Indians.
The 28-year-old India and KKR batting all-rounder Iyer waged a lone battle with the bat against Mumbai Indians to register the highest score this season among all batters.
He smashed six fours and nine sixes to bring up the second century of IPL 2023.
Iyer bettered the record set by Sunrisers Hyderabad's Harry Brook a couple of nights ago in terms of fastest century this season, who made 100 from 55 balls against KKR.
While Iyer, who injured his knee at the start of his innings while attempting a ramp shot off Cameron Green, dominated the Mumbai Indians bowlers, none of the KKR top-order batter troubled the scorers.
Iyer, playing in his third IPL season for KKR, hobbled between the wickets to complete runs, but the pain eventually subsided which gave the left-handed batter a chance to play naturally.
In an innings replete with strokes hit all around the park, Iyer completed his maiden IPL century with five fours and nine sixes from in just 49 deliveries.
While most of the KKR batters did not last long enough, Iyer also did well to score heavily in his 48-run stand for the second wicket with Rahmanullah Gurbaz (8), 50 runs for the fourth wicket with Shardul Thakur (14) and 36 for the fifth wicket with Rinku Singh (18).
Cameron Green provided MI with the first breakthrough in the second over when he had N Jagadeesan caught by Hrithik Shokeen for a five-ball duck to rock KKR early.
With Gurbaz struggling to get off the blocks, Iyer played a brisk innings coming in at No. 3 to provide KKR with quick runs in the powerplay, hitting four sixes and two fours as the visiting side reached 55/1 in six overs.
Gurbaz's stay ended in the seventh over when Piyush Chawla had him caught by Duan Jansen at short third man.
If Iyer kept attacking the MI bowlers from one end, KKR kept losing wickets at the other. Nitish Rana (5) also had a game to forget with the bat, mistiming one to long on off Shokeen and walked away after exchanging a few words with the spin bowler.
KKR's latest sensation Rinku fell for a run-a-ball 18 with two fours and all-rounder Andre Russell freed up his arms, scoring his first double-digit score of this year's IPL after three games to finish on 21 not out from 11 balls.
