IPL 2017 | #MIvKKR: When Jasprit Bumrah stole the match from KKR

Mumbai Indians’ nail-biting victory against the Kolkata Knight Riders might have been due to the mature efforts with the bat from two young batsmen – Nitish Rana and Hardik Pandya – but the decisive moment came well before that in the first innings.

Much like against Gujarat Lions in their previous game, KKR openers Chris Lynn and Gautam Gambhir were going great guns batting first, racing to 44/0 in four overs. Krunal Pandya struck twice alright, but the dangerman in Lynn was still out there. And, looking set to do a Rajkot encore.

But that’s when skipper Rohit Sharma made a tactical masterstroke. A couple of overs after Krunal’s double strike, the MI skipper brought back one of his trusted wicket-taking soldiers in Jasprit Bumrah with the objective of getting the Australian back into the dugout.

The move was a gamble, for it meant one less over for Bumrah at the death, a phase he has mastered bowling. But the gamble paid off, with the pacer trapping Lynn leg-before-wicket trying to go for a big heave on the leg side.

Bumrah jumped, Rohit jumped, and so did the MI fans. Everyone in the stadium knew the importance of the wicket. Lynn’s attacking innings was cut short to 32, and captain Rohit deserves a large chunk of credit for it.

KKR were down to 67/3, and the dismissal of their most potent batsmen ensured that they were restricted to 178/7, which was modest considering the Wankhede deck and the kind of start KKR got.

And, in the end, with MI getting home with just a ball to spare, that timely wicket proved to be huge in the context of the game.