Kolkata Knight Riders Defeat Mumbai Indians By 24 Runs Kolkata Knight Riders 169 (Venkatesh Iyer 70, Manish Pandey 42, Jasprit Bumrah 3-18) defeated Mumbai Indians 145 (Suryakumar Yadav 56, Mitchell Starc 4-33) by 24 runs Kolkata Knight Riders solidified their position near the top of the IPL table, while Mumbai Indians faced another setback in their quest for a spot in the final four.

Mumbai's loss, despite taking five KKR wickets early in the match, will require analysis from their management. They missed the opportunity to capitalize when KKR was struggling at 43 for 4, then 57 for 5. Despite a strong finish by Mumbai through Bumrah, KKR's recovery, fueled by an 83-run partnership between Venkatesh Iyer and Manish Pandey, proved decisive. Mumbai's own batting struggles persisted, but Suryakumar Yadav's contribution kept their hopes alive.

However, Mitchell Starc's performance dashed those hopes, particularly his pivotal 17th over, conceding only three runs. Despite Suryakumar's valiant effort, Starc's brilliance ultimately sealed Mumbai's fate. Starc's figures of 4 for 33, including crucial wickets at key moments

With seven wins in 10 games giving them 14 points and the second position in the IPL points table, a berth in the playoffs looks within the grasp of two-time winners KKR. For Mumbai Indians, the race to the IPL playoffs seems lost even though the five-time winners have four more games to play. Even if Mumbai Indians win each of these, they can only get to 12 points and somewhere in the middle of the points table not necessarily challenging those who have been consistently good