MI vs KKR: Fans praise Hardik Pandya's captaincy with no Rohit Sharma on field as KKR innings collapse

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MI vs KKR: Hardik Pandya was praised for his captaincy as Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) were reduced to 57/5 in their match against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday, May 3.

Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bowl first on a strip which wasn't used in the ongoing IPL 2024. The decision paid off as KKR lost four wickets inside the powerplay overs, and one on the first ball after it.

Nuwan Thushara picked the wickets of Phil Salt (5), Angkrish Raghuvanshi (13), and Shreyas Iyer (6). The dangerous Sunil Narine (8) was clean bowled by Hardik Pandya, while Rinku Singh (9) was caught and bowled by veteran spinner Piyush Chawla.

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Fans soon took to Twitter and praised Hardik Pandya and his team for completely dominating second-placed KKR. A few also reckoned that Hardik was flourishing in the absence of Rohit Sharma, who was named as one of Mumbai's Impact Substitutes for the match. The former captain is understandably having an issue in his back.

KKR have not won at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai since 2012. In total they have played 11 times at the Wankhede Stadium, with Mumbai emerging at top 10 times.

Hardik Pandya later returned to pick the wicket of Manish Pandey (42) and bring end to an 83-run partnership off 63 balls for the sixth wicket. He also played a crucial role in the run out dismissal of Andre Russell who could score just seven off two balls.

Kolkata finished at 169 in 19.5 overs. Venkatesh Iyer top-scored for them with 70 off 52. Thushara and Jasprit Bumrah picked three wickets apiece.