Rohit Sharma scored an unbeaten 55 as Mumbai Indians thumped Kolkata Knight Riders by 9 wickets at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Sunday.
Mumbai included Ishan Kishan and Mitchell McClenaghan in place of Barinder Sran and Evin Lewis while Kolkata dropped Piyush Chawla and included Prasidh Krishna.
After being put into bat by home skipper Rohit , Kolkata Knight Riders opening pair of Shubman Gill and Chris Lynn made a solid beginning as the duo added 49 runs for the opening wicket, before Hardik Pandya after the power play struck twice by dismissing Gill and dangerous looking Lynn in succession.
Lasith Malinga in the 13th over, removed skipper Dinesh Karthik and the in form Russell who gloved to keeper De Kock as KKR were reeling at 73/4.
Robin Uthappa and Nitish Rana stitched a 47 run stand for the fifth wicket, before the latter was caught by Pollard off Malinga for a breezy 26.
Uthappa looked completely out of sorts in his innings of 40 before falling to Jasprit Bumrah, as the MI bowlers restricted KKR to 133 for 7 in 20 overs.
The 35 year old Lasith Malinga was Mumbai Indians best bowler as he bagged 3/35 in 4 overs, while Hardik Pandya and Bumrah bagged 2 wickets each.
Chasing a target of 134 runs, Mumbai Indians pair of Rohit Sharma and Quinton de Kock got the team off to a steady start as the pair added 46 runs in the first six overs, before De Kock was caught brilliantly by Karthik off Krishna for a well made 30.
The 32 year old star Indian batsman returned to form by reaching his half century in just 44 balls, while Surya Kumar Yadav provided support by remaining unbeaten on 46. The two added an unbeaten 88 runs for the second wicket as the home reached the target of 134 with 23 balls to spare.
Prasidh Krishna was the lone wicket taker for Kolkata Knight Riders.
Hardik Pandya was declared the Man of the Match.
Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings will be squaring off against each other in the Qualifier 1 at Chennai on Tuesday, while Delhi Capitals will be facing the Sunrisers Hyderabad at Vizag on May 8.