manish pandey made 45 off 33 balls and Kolkata Knight Riders beat Mumbai Indians by four wickets at Eden Gardens on Wednesday. The chase finished at 6-148 with seven balls to spare, keeping KKR in the IPL 2026 play-off race after a season that began with five completed defeats.
Green Strikes Early at Eden Gardens
Cameron Green set the tone with 2-23 in three overs, and his opening burst left Mumbai Indians at 2-17 after two wickets in four balls. He removed Ryan Rickelton with a top-edge caught by Pandey at point, then got Naman Dhir after a review overturned the not-out call.
Mumbai still reached 8-147, helped by Corbin Bosch’s unbeaten 32 off 18 balls. Finn Allen fell for eight off five balls in the chase, while Ajinkya Rahane made 21 off 17 before KKR’s middle order took over the final push.
Pandey and Powell Finish It
Pandey’s 45 off 33 balls gave Kolkata the spine of the chase. Rovman Powell added 40 off 30 balls, and that pair carried KKR through the reply after Green’s early damage had set a tighter target than the one they eventually beat.
Green also contributed with the bat but was out for four off eight balls, one of the few setbacks in a chase that stayed in control once Pandey settled in. KKR reached the target before the final over, ending on 6-148 and taking the result by four wickets.
Kolkata’s Turnaround
The win was KKR’s sixth in their last seven games, a sharp change after they lost their first five completed matches. Rahane put that shift in plain terms: “After that first win, we started believing,”.
Kolkata ended the night sixth, one point behind fourth-placed Rajasthan Royals. That leaves the margin in the play-off race thin, but the climb from 0-5 into sixth place gives KKR a path they did not have at the start of the season.
