Kolkata Knight Riders dished out a clinical bowling performance to beat Mumbai Indians by 32 runs and virtually seal a berth in the four-team play-offs of the Indian Premier League, at the Wankhede stadium, in Mumbai, on Wednesday night.
Chasing a modest 141, Mumbai Indians lost wickets at regular intervals, after being 60 for one, and were shot out for 108 in 19.1 overs, their second lowest total of the season after the paltry 92 against Delhi Daredevils at the same venue.
West Indian off-spinner Sunil Narine was unplayable and pushed Mumbai Indians to the brink with a superb haul of four for 15.
He was well-supported by Laxmipathy Balaji (2 for 11) and Jacques Kallis (2 for 42), while left arm spinners Shakib Al Hasan and Iqbal Abdulla too did their bit with a wicket each.
Mumbai's batsmen made a hash of what appeared to be a attainable score. Again, the dismissal of their icon Sachin Tendulkar for 27 in the 11th over triggered a sharp collapse, which saw the home team lose their last eight wickets for just 48 runs.
The Mumbai batsmen struggled against the varied KKR attack on a wicket that wasn't devil-like in the past, but provided some appreciable bounce to the spinners.
The victory helped KKR take second place, behind table leaders Delhi Daredevils with 19 points, while Mumbai Indians remain third on 18 points, ahead of their final game against Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur on May 20.
KKR face Pune Warriors in their final league game at Pune on Saturday.
Apart from Tendulkar, who hit three fours and a six in 24 balls, Dinesh Kartik (21), Rohit Sharma (12) and Ambati Rayudu (11) got starts but failed to bring Mumbai to the finishing line.
Earlier, Rudra Pratap Singh bagged two wickets in as many balls in his first over as Mumbai Indians restricted KKR to a modest 140 for seven.
Needing a victory to seal a play-off berth, Mumbai were on top from the time skipper Harbhajan Singh opted to field after winning the toss, as their bowlers, led by R P Singh, kept the rival batsmen on a tight leash.
There was little of note in KKR's innings, which never kept going after the loss of opener Brendon McCullum and Jacques Kallis in successive balls to R P Singh.
Skipper Gautam Gambhir made 27 off 23 balls, with a six and three fours, while Manoj Tiwary scored an attractive 41 off 43 balls, with two sixes and as many fours, before both threw away their wickets.
The lower order batsmen tried their bit and added 46 runs in the last five overs, with Yusuf Pathan scoring an unbeaten 21 off 21 balls with two fours, but the score looked below par on a track that looked good for batting.
For Mumbai, who lost their previous home game to Royal Challengers Bangalore by a big margin, R P Singh led the bowling honours with figures of two for 33, while Lasith Malinga, Munaf Patel, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Smith all picked up a wicket apiece.
