Rohit Sharma led from the front as Mumbai Indians (MI) beat Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) by 49 runs and secured their first win of the Dream11 Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

After KKR won the toss and elected to field in their first game of the season, Shivam Mavi struck early, to dismiss Quinton de Kock in the second over.

But MI skipper Rohit and Suryakumar Yadav counterattacked and cashed in on every scoring opportunity. While Suryakumar hit 4 fours in the 3^rd over of the innings, Rohit went after Pat Cummins in the fifth over, hitting him for two sixes.

Rohit and Suryakumar completed the fifty-run partnership and team’s fifty in the final over of the powerplay. Rohit then hit a four and a six, taking on Andre Russell in his first over.

Suryakumar then welcomed Kuldeep Yadav into the attack, with a six in his first over as MI moved past 80-run mark at the close of 8 overs.

MI were in a touching distance to complete a hundred, but before that they lost Suryakumar for 47 after the right-hander was run-out while completing two runs. Rohit then brought up his 37^th IPL fifty in the IPL before MI moved past hundred in the 12^th over.  

In the 14^th over – Kuldeep’s last of the night – Rohit hit two mighty sixes to complete his 200 sixes in the IPL. Rohit and Saurabh Tiwary, meanwhile, put up a 49-run stand, with the left-hander scoring 21 in 13 balls before getting out off Sunil Narine’s bowling.

MI brought up their 150 in the 17^th over before Hardik Pandya opened his shoulders, hitting Cummins for two fours and a six.

Rohit, then got out in the 18^th over after scoring 80 off 54 balls, hitting 3 fours and 6 sixes, as Mavi picked up his second wicket of the match. KKR got a lucky breakthrough in the 19^th over as Hardik got out hit-wicket off Russell’s bowling. MI scored 13 runs in the final over to take their run-tally to 195/5.

Needing 196 runs to win, KKR lost their first wicket in the third over of the chase as Trent Boult dismissed Shubman Gill. While KKR skipper Dinesh Karthik hit a couple of crisp fours, MI got their second wicket as de Kock held onto a fine flying catch off James Pattinson’s bowling to get Narine out in the fifth over.

Nitish Rana replaced Narine in the middle and hardly wasted any time to make his intentions clear, hitting his third ball for a six over long-off as KKR ended the powerplay at 33/2.

KKR then scored 13 off the eighth over as Karthik and Rana hit a four each to push their side past fifty. KKR lost their third wicket in the 11^th over as Rahul Chahar trapped Karthik before the wickets for 30.

In the next over, Hardik displayed a piece of fielding brilliance. After Rana went aerial off Pollard’s bowling, Hardik, manning the sweeper cover area, ran towards his left held on to a fine catch, kept his composure and balance to not touch the rope and gave MI their fourth wicket.

Morgan was then joined by Russell as KKR, who reached the three-figure mark in the 15^th over, were in need to go big to win the game.

But Bumrah dismissed both the batsmen in the 16^th over. First, he disturbed the timber to end Russell’s stay in the middle, and then, had Morgan caught behind the wickets for 16. Boult then picked up his second wicket as Nikhil Naik got out for 1.

Cummins, then, put up some show with the bat, scoring 33 off 12 balls, hitting Bumrah for three sixes in the 18^th over. But he was dismissed in the penultimate over by James Pattinson. Chahar, on the final ball of the match, had Mavi stumped as MI sealed a win.

Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians 195/5 (Rohit Sharma 80, Suryakumar Yadav 47; Shivam Mavi 2/32) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 146/9 (Dinesh Karthik 30, Nitish Rana 24; James Pattinson 2/25) by 49 runs