Ishan Kishan smashed a 17-ball half-century and led defending champion Mumbai Indians to No. 4 spot in the Indian Premier League with a resounding 102-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday. The 19-year-old left-hander Kishan blazed 62 off 21 balls with five fours and six sixes which propelled Mumbai to 210-6. (IPL 2018 FULL COVERAGE)
Mumbai captain Rohit Sharma praised Kishan's fearless character and said he was the 'turning point' for his side. (KKR VS MI, HIGHLIGHTS)
"Without doubt Ishan Kishan's fearless knock was the turning point... he just came in and changed momentum. I was assessing the pitch at that point, ball was sticking in the pitch, it wasn't easy, but he changed the game. We were 65 after first ten overs, but scoring 145 in last ten overs is a magnificent effort by all the batters," Rohit said after the match. (Also Read: Shah Rukh Khan apologises to fans after KKR's loss)
Kolkata lost their way early on in pursuit of their biggest run-chase in the IPL before they were bowled out for only 108 in 18.1 overs.
Mumbai pushed Kolkata to No. 5 on superior net run-rate with both teams on 10 points with five victories from 11 games.
"As a team we tend to pick up during the month of May. Hope we do it sooner. Never easy to be on the line all the time and be desperate for wins towards the second half.
"Would like to start the tournament on a high. But in the past three years, we've been at the bottom of the table. I'm glad we came together and performed as a team today," Rohit said.
After being sent into bat, Kolkata had no answer to Kishan's sensational hitting as he used his feet well against both spinners and seamers.
Kishan smashed medium fast Prasidh Krishna (1-41) for three boundaries in an over before smacking four successive sixes off left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav (0-43).
Ben Cutting (24 off 9) provided a perfect finish to the innings when Piyush Chawla (3-48) conceded 22 runs in the last over with the Australian hitting a four and two sixes, and Krunal lofted the leg-spinner for a six off the last ball.
