Yesterday Match Result: KKR survive playoff scare as Manish Pandey, Rovman Powell seal tense chase vs MI

KOLKATA: Kolkata Knight Riders kept their IPL playoff hopes alive with a four-wicket win over Mumbai Indians at Eden Gardens here on Wednesday, chasing down 148 with seven balls to spare. The victory took KKR to 13 points from 13 matches and kept the playoff race interestingly poised. Rahane’s side will still need to win its last league game, against Delhi Capitals at Eden Gardens on May 24, to stay in contention.On a sluggish surface where both sides struggled to force the pace, the hosts first did well to keep MI’s highprofile batting unit down to 147/8 after KKR skipper Ajinkya Rahane chose to bowl first after winning the toss.KKR’s chase began shakily. In-form opener Finn Allen fell in the first over, chopping Deepak Chahar onto his stumps for eight. Bosch then had Rahane caught behind for 21 in the sixth over before removing Cameron Green in his next over to leave KKR under pressure at 54/3 in the eighth over. Things could have got worse for the hosts when Rovman Powell, on 13, offered a skier, only for Robin Minz and Chahar to allow the chance to drop between them. That reprieve proved costly for MI.Manish Pandey, getting to bat for the first time in his fifth match this season, anchored the chase with a composed 45 off 33 balls. He added 64 for the fourth wicket with Powell, whose 40 off 30 balls gave KKR the momentum they needed. The West Indian’s innings ended when Bosch completed a sharp catch at point off AM Ghazanfar.Pandey was bowled by Jasprit Bumrah to make it 118/4 in the 15th over and Powell followed six runs later, but the asking rate was under control by then. Tejasvi Dahiya, who came in as concussion substitute for Angkrish Raghuvanshi, made 11 before Bosch struck again, but Rinku Singh and Anukul Roy completed the job as KKR reached 148/6 in 18.5 overs.Earlier, Green, who had not bowled in the first half of this IPL, made a significant difference with the new ball by providing the early breakthroughs. Rohit Sharma began brightly, lofting Green over backward square leg for the first six of the match in the third over. But Green responded by dismissing Ryan Rickelton and Naman Dhir in the same over.The Australian allrounder went around the wicket to dismiss Rickelton, whose mistimed shot went high for Manish Pandey to complete a welljudged catch at point. Dhir lasted three balls before edging an away-going delivery to wicketkeeper Raghuvanshi.