Rohit Sharma scored a sparkling century while Herschelle Gibbs, playing in his first game of IPl 5 came good straightaway with a fifty to set up Mumbai Indians to a 27-run win over hosts Kolkata Knight Riders.
Batting first after winning the toss, Mumbai Indians through a strong batting performance posted 182 for 1. After the early fall of Sachin Tendulkar, who got stumped off Shakib Al Hasan in the 3rd over. But after the Tendulkar dismissal, Mumbai Indians moved on smoothly with a 165-run stand between Herschelle Gibbs (66* from 58 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes) and Rohit Sharma (109* from 60 balls with 12 fours and 5 sixes).
Spinners Shakib Al Hasan with 4-0-27-1 and Sunil Narine with 4-0-28-0 did a good job for KKR. In their run chase, KKR slipped to 60 for 3 in 9.4 overs and could never quite get closer to the target of 183. Jacques Kallis top scored for the KKR with 79 from 60 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes while Yusuf Pathan scored an unbeaten 40 from 31 balls with 2 fours and a six.
© BV Swagath