Hardik keeps Mumbai Indians’ IPL hopes alive

Hardik Pandya put in a solid allround performance as the Mumbai Indians beat the Kolkata Knight Riders by 13 runs in an Indian Premier League (IPL) clash on Sunday.

Hardik first scored a valuable unbeaten 35 from just 20 balls to lead his side to a total of 181/4 in their 20 overs after they were sent in to bat by KKR captain Dinesh Karthik.

Mumbai’s innings got off to a fast start as openers Suryakumar Yadav (59 off 39 balls) and Evin Lewis (43 off 28 balls) put on 91 inside the first overs.

India allrounder Hardik gave the innings some vital impetus with Sunil Narine and Andre Russell took two wickets each for the visitors.

Hardik was then the star with the ball for the hosts as he took 2-19 in his four overs as Mumbai restricted KKR to 168/6.

Robin Uthappa (54), Nitish Rana (31) and Karthik (36 not out) tried hard for the visitors but it was not enough.

The victory keeps Mumbai’s hopes of reaching the play-offs alive while Kolkata stay in third place on the eight-team table.