MUMBAI: If the Kolkata Knight Riders needed some help for stopping the Mumbai Indians from winning their IPL game in their backyard, they were lucky to find it from field umpires CK Nandan and Nitin Menon.Under lights at a buzzing Wankhede, Nandan and Menon played their own respective roles in tilting the game in favour of Knight Riders. However, youngsters Nitish Rana and Hardik Pandya held their nerves during the final overs of the game to take Mumbai home by four wickets in stunning style.Rana (50, 29 balls, 5x4, 3x6), who turns out for Delhi in domestic cricket, accelerated just at the right time to bring Mumbai close to victory. Thanks to the 27-year-old Pandey, more easily remembered as the first Indian to score a century in the IPL in 2009, the Knights managed a massive 71 runs in the last six overs.The young Pandey, who has represented Mumbai Indians in the past, looked masterful in his approach. However, where Harbhajan missed out on wickets, he made up for some tight spells and turned out to be the second-best in economy rates after the in-form Pandya. KKR 's only replacement was bringing in the young seamer Ankit Rajpoot in place of leg spinner Piyush Chawla.

Source: Times of India April 10, 2017 03:11 UTC