MI bowlers restrict KKR to 140

Seeking a victory to seal a play-off berth, MI were on top from the time skipper Harbhajan Singh opted to field after winning the toss as their bowlers, led by R P Singh, kept the rival batsmen on a tight leash.

There was little of note in KKR's innings, which never kept going after the loss of opener Brendon McCullum and Jacques Kallis in successive balls to R P Singh.

Skipper Gautam Gambhir made 27 off 23 balls with a six and three fours, while Manoj Tiwary scored an attractive 41 off 43 balls with two sixes and as many fours before both threw away their wickets.

The lower order batsmen tried their bit and managed to add 46 runs in the last five overs, with Yusuf Pathan making an unbeaten 21 in 21 balls with two fours, but the score looked below par on a track that looked good for batting.

For MI, who had lost their previous home game to Royal Challengers Bangalore by a big margin, R P Singh led the bowling honours with figures of two for 33 while Lasith Malinga, Munaf Patel, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Smith all picked up a wicket apiece.

KKR were rocked on the back foot by R P Singh who packed off McCullum (1) and Kallis (0) off successive balls in his first over, and the innings' second.

While McCullum got the wrong end of a dubious umpiring decision, Kallis had his off stump uprooted by a peach of a delivery from R P Singh. MORE