The Kolkata Knight Riders managed to lose their bearings in an astonishing fashion as the Mumbai Indians spinners Rahul Chahar and Krunal Pandya fashioned an improbable 10-run victory in an IPL encounter on Tuesday.
Chasing a target of 153, KKR were on course reaching 122 for 4 in the 15th over, before the last five fetched only 20 runs as they stunningly fell short giving defending champions their first win.
Bollywood superstar and co-owner of the KKR franchise, Shah Rukh Khan was disappointed by the bewildering defeat and tweeted an apology to the fans. He said, "Disappointing performance. to say the least @KKRiders apologies to all the fans!"
Krunal Pandya (1/13 in 4 overs) and Rahul Chahar (4/27 in 4 overs) were brilliant in checking the run-flow after a 72 run opening stand between Nitish Rana (57 off 47 balls) and Shubman Gill (33 off 24 balls).
But it was Jasprit Bumrah (0/28) and Trent Boult (2/27), who were magnificent at the death keeping Andre Russell and Dinesh Karthik under check in a game that will be talked about for years to come especially how KKR capitulated.
Required to show some sensible approach, the KKR batting unit adopted a strange approach as they were restricted to 142/7 to continue their miserable record with MI. They now have 22 losses against six wins over MI.
Krunal bowled an exceptional 18th over giving away just three runs, as the duo of Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell struggled to get going before Bumrah applied more pressure in the penultimate over.
Needing 15 from the last over, it was a tough ask for KKR and Trent Boult dismissed Russell and Pat Cummins in successive balls to seal the issue.
KKR off-spinner Harbhajan Singh also tweeted "Gutted" after the loss. He walked in to bat when KKR needed 13 runs to win from two deliveries.
KKR is currently placed in the fifth position on the IPL points table.
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