IPL 2018, MI vs KKR: Robin Uthappa's wicket is SK Turning Point of the match

After restricting Mumbai Indians, who were once cruising at 95/1 by the end of the 10th over, to 181, the Kolkata Knight Riders camp would have been expecting smooth sailing in the second innings. Things, however, took an ugly turn and the chase, which was once going according to plan, fell apart and the visitors ended 13 runs short of the target in Wankhede.

Dinesh Karthik had won the toss and put the hosts into bat, who came out roaring. The duo of Suryakumar Yadav and Evin Lewis added 91 runs for the opening wicket in 9.1 overs and with a series of power hitters coming up next, MI looked set to breach the 200-mark.

KKR's bowling in the last 10 overs, however, coupled with Mumbai batsmen's inability to clear the fence consistently meant they could only manage a total of 181.

In reply, Kolkata sent in Chris Lynn and Shubman Gill to take charge, relieving Sunil Narine of his opening duties. The duo did seem to get into their groove, however, they lost their wickets in quick succession, leaving Robin Uthappa and Nitish Rana with the task of reconstructing the innings.

From 28-2 in 3.1 overs, Uthappa and Rana dragged KKR to a respectable position of 112-2 in 12.2 overs. The 84-run partnership saw the wicket-keeper batsman score a 35-ball-54 while the former MI batsman chipped in with 29 runs.

On top of all that, Uthappa had just hit Ben Cutting for four consecutive boundaries in the 12th over, turning the momentum completely in KKR's favour. That's when skipper Rohit Sharma decided to bring youngster Mayank Markande back in the attack.

The joint second highest wicket-taker of the tournament, in his first spell, had conceded 17 runs in the only over he bowled. That over, eighth of the innings, saw Uthappa hit two consecutive sixes. However, upon his return in the 13th over, Markande got the right-handed KKR batsman off the third delivery of the over.

A conventional leg-spinner, turning away from Uthappa, got the bottom of his bat and Cutting, at long off, took an easy catch. That over cost MI only two runs and the all-important wicket of the KKR batsman.

This magnified the pressure on the lower middle order and following Rana's (31) dismissal in the next over, Karthik (36*), Russell (9) and Narine (5) didn't manage to get a hold of the proceedings and they fell 13 runs short of the target.

With this win, Mumbai are still in contention for one of the playoff spots.