Pollard blitz helps Mumbai cruise

The match in a tweet: Pollard blitz and Ro-hits! KKR bowlers take a pounding as Mumbai chase down 175 with 12 balls to spare.

The hero: Rohit Sharma just gets better and better orchestrating run-chases. Starting in an emphatic manner, the Mumbai skipper dispatched the second ball he faced into the 2nd tier of the Wankhede Stadium and from that moment on he was at his majestic best, driving, pulling, cutting and lofting each Knight Riders bowler at will. Most importantly for Mumbai, the captain finished the match unbeaten on 68 from 49 balls, hitting eight fours and two sixes.

The support cast: KP - not the Englishman but the big West Indian Keiron Pollard - terrorised the KKR bowlers, hitting six towering sixes as he smashed 51 in just 17 balls. Coming in to bat with Mumbai requiring 69 from 42, Pollard peppered the Mumbai crowd as he and Rohit shared a partnership of 72 from just 30 balls to finish the match.

The stat: Pollard's half-century came from just 17 balls, equalling the mark set by Delhi's Chris Morris the previous evening. Pollard is now equal third on the list of fastest IPL fifties with only Yusuf Pathan (15 balls) and Suresh Raina (16 balls) ahead of him.

The catch: Aussie Chris Lynn didn't get much on an opportunity with the bat, scoring an unbeaten run-a-ball 10 at the end of Kolkata's innings, but he made his presence felt in the field. Stationed at long-off, the Queenslander reached high above his head to intercept a missile from Mumbai's Jos Buttler before tossing the ball in the air as he fell over the rope, stepping back into play and completing an excellent catch.

The turning point: With Mumbai requiring 49 from 30 balls, Pollard decided it was time to swing the balance in Mumbai’s favour, hitting 23 runs off one over from medium pacer Rajagopal Satish. Three times in the over, Pollard simply stood still and flowed through the line to send the ball sailing over the rope down the ground for a maximum. In a blink of an eye, Pollard had changed the course of the match.

The victims: Kolkata duo Jaydev Unadkat and Rajagopal Satish conceded 79 runs in five overs between at an economy rate of 15.8. It was forgetful night for the pair as Pollard and Rohit smacked them for a total of eight sixes.

The consolation effort: Gautam Gambhir is a one-man wrecking machine for the Knight Riders at the moment but the skipper simply can't do it all on his own. The left-hander was on a mission from the start, attacking purple-cap holder, Mitchell McLenaghan from the first ball he faced. Given a reprieve on eight, Gambhir tore the Mumbai bowling to shreds with fierce cuts and sweetly timed flicks, his innings of 58, featuring seven boundaries and a solitary six.

The cameo:  At the dismissal of Andre Russell in the 18th over, Kolkata needed someone to carry on Russell work. In came Yusuf Pathan to belt four lusty blows, hammering 19 crucial runs in just eight balls to propel Kolkata to hefty total of 175.

The missed chances: It was a horrible night in the field for Mumbai, all starting when Mitch McLenaghan dropped Gambhir in the second over when the skipper was on eight. Then wicketkeeper Partiv Patel missed a straight forward stumping chance of Robin Uttappa on 35. And just when you thought it would not get any worse, Tim Southee put down two skiers in consecutive balls in the 19th over. All the missed chances cost Mumbai 65 runs, but fortunately the result went their way.

The next stop: Kolkata now travel to the nation’s capital to take on the Daredevils on the first of the double headers on Saturday while Mumbai take on Supergiants in a local derby in Pune.