Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) cemented their position in the top two with their seventh win of the season from 10 outings as they defeated the Mumbai Indians by 24 runs.
As a consequence of the defeat, MI remain in the bottom half of the points table and are all but out of playoff contention.
Sunrisers Hyderabad secured a thrilling one-run victory over Rajasthan Royals at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday to move to number four.
IPL 2024 Points Table
Kolkata Knight Riders spinners Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy stifled the Mumbai Indians batters in the first 10 overs as the hosts chased a target of 170.
MI were reduced to 61/4 in the ninth over with Narine dismissing Rohit Sharma and Varun Chakravarthy getting Naman Dhir and Tilak Varma.
Mitchell Starc went on to finish the match in spectacular fashion, claiming three wickets in the penultimate over and thus helping KKR win by 24 runs. The Australian pacer finished with figures of 4/33.
Earlier, KKR's top order was dismantled by MI within the first seven overs of their innings. Nuwan Thushara dismissed Phil Salt in the first over of the match and then removed Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Shreyas Iyer in the third.
Hardik Pandya then dismissed Sunil Narine, after which Piyush Chawla sent Rinku Singh back with his first ball of the match in the seventh over.
Venkatesh Iyer and Manish Pandey then forged a partnership of 83 runs off 62 balls, somewhat resurrecting the innings. Jasprit Bumrah was held back until the final five overs.
He managed to halt KKR's progress when they appeared capable of reaching 190, taking three wickets in the death overs. KKR were thus all out for a score of 169.
It must be noted Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings are the joint-most successful teams in IPL history, with both sides clinching the title five times each.
Aside from these two, KKR has triumphed twice, while Gujarat Titans, Sunrisers Hyderabad, Rajasthan Royals, and Deccan Chargers have each lifted the trophy once.
Despite boasting legendary figures in the shorter format such as Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell, AB de Villiers, Jacques Kallis, and others, Royal Challengers Bangalore have yet to claim the title despite reaching the final thrice in 2009, 2011, and 2016.
Remaining IPL 2024 matches schedule:
May 4: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Gujarat Titans
May 5: Punjab Kings vs Chennai Super Kings & Lucknow Super Giants vs Kolkata Knight Riders
May 6: Mumbai Indians vs Sunrisers Hyderabad
May 7: Delhi Capitals vs Rajasthan Royals
May 8: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Lucknow Super Giants
May 9: Punjab Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore
May 10: Gujarat Titans vs Chennai Super Kings
May 11: Kolkata Knight Riders vs Mumbai Indians
May 12: Chennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals & Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Delhi Capitals
May 13: Gujarat Titans vs Kolkata Knight Riders
May 14: Delhi Capitals vs Lucknow Super Giants
May 15: Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings
May 16: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Gujarat Titans
May 17: Mumbai Indians vs Lucknow Super Giants
May 18: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Chennai Super Kings
May 19: Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Punjab Kings & Rajasthan Royals vs Kolkata Knight Riders
May 21: Qualifier 1
May 22: Eliminator
May 24: Qualifier 2
May 26: Final