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On Saturday, May 11, after securing their qualification through to the IPL 2024 playoffs, the Kolkata Knight Riders players did a lap of honour at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Earlier, in a rain-curtailed match against Mumbai Indians, which was a 16-over-a-side contest, Kolkata Knight Riders successfully defended a 157-run total, winning by 18 runs.
In their seven matches at home in the 2024 IPL season, Kolkata Knight Riders won five matches at the Eden Gardens, making it a fortress once again. The only two losses for KKR at home came against Rajasthan Royals by one run, and Punjab Kings, who chased down 262 runs, the highest total in the history of the IPL.
For the unversed, following an hour and 45-minute rain delay, Mumbai Indians took to the field after their captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and inserted Kolkata Knight Riders into batting first on a pitch that was a bit tacky due to the weather around. The MI fast bowlers started splendidly, knocking over the in-form opening pair of KKR within seven balls, sending Phil Salt and Sunil Narine back into the pavilion cheaply.
Shreyas Iyer, the Kolkata Knight Riders captain, also lost his wicket early in the piece, but from that point onwards, the likes of Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, and Rinku Singh delivered valuable contributions, to help the side post 157/7 in 16 overs. In the run chase, Mumbai Indians openers Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma provided a fantastic start at the top of the order, despite the bulk of the scoring being done by the left-handed batter.
After Ishan Kishan succumbed for 40 off 22, trying to put Sunil Narine in the grandstand at the Eden Gardens, the Mumbai Indians batting lineup kept losing regular wickets. Suryakumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya didn’t last long, putting the responsibility firmly on Tilak Varma to take MI over the line, but his 32 off 17 wasn’t enough on the night with the team being restricted to 139/8 in 16 overs.
Here is the clip of KKR players taking a lap of honour at Eden Gardens after their final home game of IPL 2024:
