Karn was named Man of the Match for his figures of 4-16 off four overs

Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo

The Mumbai Indians will take on the Rising Pune Supergiants in the Indian Premier League (IPL) final after Karn Sharma’s four-wicket haul saw his side defeat the Kolkata Knight Riders by six wickets.

Electing to bowl first, the Indians struck in the second over of the match as Jasprit Bumrah removed Knight Riders opener Chris Lynn for four runs.

Sunil Narine only managed to make 10 runs before he was stumped by Parthiv Patel off the bowling of Karn.

Things only got worse for the Knight Riders after both their openers fell as wicketkeeper Robin Uthappa, captain Gautam Gambhir and New Zealand import Colin de Grandhomme were dismissed in quick succession.

Reeling at 31/5, Ishank Jaggi and Suryakumar Yadav temporarily stemmed the bleeding with a 56-run partnership.

But, once Jaggi was removed by Karn for 28, the collapse continued. Even Suryakumar fell for 31 as the Knight Riders were bundled out for 107.

Karn was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets, while Bumrah snapped up three, Mitchell Johnson got two and Lasith Malinga chipped in with one.

Chasing 108 to win, the Indians struggled early on as Lendl Simmons, Patel and Ambati Rayudu were sent packing for three, 14 and six runs respectively.

Captain Rohit Sharma and Krunal Pandya stabilised the innings with a crucial 54-run partnership before Rohit was dismissed by Nathan Coulter-Nile for 26.

Krunal proceeded to finish unbeaten on 45 off 30 balls, which included eight boundaries, as the Indians reached their target with 33 balls to spare.

Piyush Chawla was the most successful bowler with two wickets, while Coulter-Nile and Umesh Yadav claimed one wicket each.

Karn was named Man of the Match.