Mumbai Indians crushed Kolkata Knight Riders by 102 runs in the IPL on Wednesday to continue their remarkable turnaround in the tournament.

Mumbai wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan was the star of the day as he smashed a record 21-ball 62 to help the defending champions score 210 for six at the Eden Gardens.

In reply, the Knight Riders did not put up any fight as they rolled over for 108 in 18.1 overs to fall to one of the heaviest defeats in IPL. Mumbai thus rose to fourth in the points table after being on the verge of crashing out last week.

It continued Mumbai’s excellent record against Kolkata. Wednesday’s win was Mumbai’s eighth straight victory against the Knight Riders in the tournament.

INCREDIBLE ISHAN

The day belonged to Mumbai Indians wicketkeeper Kishan. Batting at number four, Kishan launched the second ball he faced – from Kuldeep Yadav – for a six over long on.

That was just the start though. Three boundaries off leg-spinner Piyush Chawla’s next over set the cat among the pigeons after Mumbai were 62-2 after nine overs.

However, it was against Kuldeep in the 14th over that Kishan truly opened up. He hit the third ball of the over the square leg fence, the fourth over mid wicket, the fifth over long on and the final beyond mid wicket to race past fifty.

His third six of the over brought up his fifty off just 17 balls, which is the joint fastest for Mumbai Indians in IPL.

In all, he hit five fours and six sixes to set the stage for an explosive finish.

CUTTING EDGE

Mumbai went past the 200-run mark thanks to seamer Ben Cutting. The Australian cracked 24 from just nine balls at the death, with three hits over the boundary, to help Rohit Sharma’s team amass a massive total.

It was a poor day in the office for every Kolkata bowler apart from Sunil Narine, who finished with respectable figures of 1-27. Leg-spinner Chawla picked up three wickets but went for 48.

RUN-OUTS RUIN KKR’S CHANCES

Kolkata lost Lynn and Karthik (above) to run-outs. Image: BCCI.

Chasing a target in excess of 200 was always going to be a challenge. But Kolkata didn’t help their cause one bit by losing two key wickets to run-outs.

In the fourth over, Robin Uthappa cut Krunal Pandya to cover and started for a single. By the time he stopped in his tracks, Chris Lynn was down the pitch and was run out by the bowler.

Failing to learn from their mistake, Kolkata continued to look for non-existent singles. In the beginning of the 10th over, Nitish Rana hit Hardik Pandya to point and started off for a single. The throw at the non-striker’s end found captain Karthik well short of the crease even though there was some uncertainty over whether Hardik had collected the ball cleanly.

MUMBAI’S FINE RECORD CONTINUES

Mumbai have an excellent record at the Eden Gardens. Before Wednesday’s match, their record in Kolkata read nine wins from 11 matches. And with the pressure well and truly on Mumbai Indians following a poor start to the season, that record probably gave them the confidence to take on Kolkata.