KKR vs MI, IPL 2024: Kolkata Knight Riders defeated Mumbai Indians by 18 runs in match 60 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Eden Gardens on Saturday, May 11.

With their ninth win of the season, KKR became the first side to qualify for the playoffs as they strengthened their grip at the top of the points table and now have 18 points under their belt in 12 games.

KKR put up a brilliant bowling performance to defend their total in the rain-hit thrilling contest with Harshit Rana defending 22 runs in the final over.

Meanwhile, Rana picked up two wickets as he dismissed Naman Dhir (17) and Tilak Varma (32), giving away just three runs.

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KKR ended their home leg this season on a positive note as they restricted the Hardik Pandya-led side to 139/8 in their 20 overs while defending a 158-run target.

Varun Chakravarthy was the pick of the bowlers for the home side as he took two wickets for just 17 runs in his four overs.

Other bowlers came up with brilliant support with Andre Russell picking up two wickets whereas Sunil Narine found a scalp as well.

Notably, KKR defeated MI for the second time this season, having got the better of them at the Wankhede Stadium as well.

Chasing the target, the visitors were off to a promising start with a 65-run opening stand between Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma.

While Kishan unleashed an all-out attack for his 22-ball 40 with the help of five fours and two sixes, Rohit had yet another disappointing outing.

The former MI captain took 24 balls for his 19 runs before getting dismissed by Chakravarthy in the eighth over.

Despite losing wickets consistently in the middle overs, Tilak Varma kept MI alive in the contest but he ran out of partners, resulting in his dismissal as well towards the end.

Varma put up a great effort with a 32-run knock in just 17 balls with the help of five fours and a six before Harshit Rana got the better of him.

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Earlier, KKR after being put into bat first posted a challenging total of 157/7 in their 20 overs in the match that was reduced to 16 overs per side due to rain delay.

While Venkatesh Iyer continued his brilliant form against MI with a 42-run knock, Nitish Rana made a crucial contribution of 33 runs in 23 balls on his return to the side.

For MI, Jasprit Bumrah and Piyush Chawla picked up two wickets each whereas Nuwan Thushara and Anshul Kamboj took a wicket each as well.

MI, who already have been eliminated from the playoff race, remained in the ninth position after their ninth defeat of this season.