IPL 2026: KKR keep playoff hopes alive with four wicket win over MI

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], May 21 : Fine knocks from Rovman Powell and Manish Pandey helped Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) keep their playoff hopes alive, defeating Mumbai Indians (MI) by four wickets at Eden Gardens on Thursday.
With this win, their sixth in the previous seven games, KKR keep their playoff dream alive and kicking. With six wins and losses each and a no result, KKR is at the sixth place in the points table. While MI is at the ninth spot with four wins and nine losses.
During a chase of 148 runs, Finn Allen started with two fours against Deepak Chahar, but was removed in the same over for eight in five balls, with two fours. KKR was 10/1 in one over.
Skipper Ajinkya Rahane and Manish Pandey joined forces, batting with caution till the fourth over, where the duo looted 14 runs off Jasprit Bumrah, with three fours.
Rahane and Manish's 38-run stand was ended by Corbin Bosch, who removed the KKR skipper for 21 in 17 balls, with four boundaries. Bosch also removed Cameron Green for just four in the same over, reducing KKR to 54/3 in 7.1 overs.
Manish (32*) and Rovman Powell (15*) took KKR to 84/3 in 10 overs.
With a four behind backward point by Manish, KKR reached the 100-run mark in 12.1 overs. Powell ended the over by smashing Raghu Sharma for two fours, leaving KKR with 36 to win.
Jasprit Bumrah got the breakthrough wicket of Manish for a 33-ball 45, with six fours, reducing the deficit to 30 in 30 balls. KKR was 118/4 in 15 overs.
Allah Ghazanfar got the wicket of Powell for 30-ball 40, with three fours and two sixes, as a rocketing shot went into the hands of Bosch. KKR was 124/5 in 15.2 overs.
The pair of Tejasvi Dahiya and Rinku Singh took KKR near a win, but there was a twist as Tejasvi succumbed to Bosch for 12-ball 11. KKR was at 140/6 in 18.5 overs.
KKR ended their chase at 148/6 in 18.5 overs, with Rinku (9*) and Anukul Roy (4*) unbeaten.
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) produced a disciplined bowling effort to restrict Mumbai Indians (MI) to a modest total of 147/8 in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 clash at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday.
After being asked to bat first, the MI made a cautious start, reaching 10/0 in the first two overs. However, the third over proved costly as KKR all-rounder Cameron Green struck twice in quick succession, first removing Ryan Rickelton for six runs on the third delivery and then dismissing Naman Dhir for a three-ball duck on the final ball of the over. MI sunk to 17/2 in three overs.
The pressure continued in the very next over when Saurabh Dubey sent back Rohit Sharma for 15, leaving MI struggling at 24/3 after four overs.
Dubey struck again in the sixth over, getting rid of Suryakumar Yadav for 15 in six balls, with two fours and a six, as the MI finished the powerplay at 46/4 under mounting pressure.
After the end of the eighth over, MI batters Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya took the team to 57/4. However, rain then interrupted play, forcing a temporary halt in proceedings.
Following the resumption, both batters resumed cautiously as MI reached 64/4 at the halfway stage of the innings, continuing to rebuild after early setbacks.
During the fourth ball of the 14th over, pacer Kartik Tyagi struck for the first time, dismissing Tilak Varma for 20 runs in 32 balls, as Mumbai slipped further to 84/5, ending the 43-run stand, continuing their struggle to build momentum.
Mumbai's batting collapse continued as skipper Hardik Pandya was dismissed for 26 runs in 27 balls, with veteran spinner Sunil Narine clean bowling him on the second delivery of the 16th over, leaving MI further under pressure in their innings.
During the fourth ball of the 17th over, Will Jacks was run out for 14 following a major mix-up with Corbin Bosch. At the end of the 18th over, MI were left struggling at 115/7 as wickets continued to tumble in their innings.
In the final stages of the innings, Corbin Bosch played a valuable, unbeaten knock of 32 off 18 balls (with three fours and two sixes) to help MI reach a respectable total of 147/8 in 20 overs.
For KKR, Saurabh finished with figures of 2/34, Cameron Green picked up 2/23, Kartik Tyagi returned 2/37, while Sunil Narine chipped in with 1/13 as the bowling unit shared the wickets to restrict MI.