Kolkata Knight Riders hadn’t won against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede since 2012. That encounter was most remembered for their principal owner Shah Rukh Khan’s scuffle with security personnel which resulted in a ban from his entering the ground for five years.

Shah Rukh wasn’t there at the stadium on Friday too, though he lives a few kilometres away in Bandra. His Knights are now knocking on the doors of the playoffs following a 24-run triumph over Hardik Pandya’s men.

It was Mitchell Starc who made it count on the big day. The most expensive cricketer in the IPL showed his class with a four-wicket haul to end Mumbai Indians’ hopes.

Starc had often been ridiculed for giving away too many runs in this format, but on a wicket which afforded bounce and movement, he was the difference between the two teams. Clenched fists and a roar, he celebrated in style at the fall of Gerald Coetzee’s wicket before being engulfed by teammates.

Even the dew couldn’t help the hosts as the two spinners, Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy, tightened the noose before Starc delivered the knockout punch. The loss meant Mumbai Indians are virtually out of reckoning for a playoffs berth.

Mumbai Indians began the 170-run chase with the right intent, but Starc uprooted Ishan Kishan’s leg stump after being carted for a six. Naman Dhir paid the price for an over-ambitious stroke and then Rohit Sharma’s dismissal put the Knights in a firm space.

Rohit made only 11 off 12 balls. Since his century against CSK, his last four innings have yielded 4, 8, 6 and 11.

Rohit had arrived at the Wankhede more than an hour before his Mumbai Indians teammates made their way to the ground. Having taken a day off from practice on the match eve, Rohit made sure he remained in the right nick on Friday. The former captain spent close to 45 minutes taking throw-downs from the support staff before joining the others in the drills. Playing as an Impact Player, he hardly made an impact on the day.

The hosts lost five wickets for 33 runs till Suryakumar Yadav revived hopes of a turnaround. It was perhaps the slowest start to a Surya innings in the IPL as he crawled to 20 off 18 balls.

He then stepped on the accelerator smashing 20 runs off the 14th over, bowled by Vaibhav Arora. But just when he looked to be regaining his touch, he holed out in the deep. That ended Mumbai Indians’ hopes.

The Mumbai Indians pacers — Jasprit Bumrah, Nuwan Thushara and Hardik Pandya — had restricted Kolkata Knight Riders to 169 with a probing and incisive spell.

It wasn’t the ideal start for the Knights inside the Powerplay overs though they maintained close to 10 runs an over.

They lost five wickets inside the first 37 balls of the innings but Venkatesh Iyer, the last man dismissed, finished with 70 off 52 balls.

He held the innings together with six boundaries and three fours but the run out of Andre Russell in the 17th over hampered their progress.

On a fresh wicket, Thushara removed three of KKR top four — Phil Salt, Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Shreyas Iyer. His is a case of work-in-progress under the watchful eyes of his mentor Lasith Malinga.

He possesses the same slinging action and removed Angkrish with a widish delivery. Then the late away swing forced Shreyas Iyer to chip to mid-on.

Hardik then bowled Narine with his second delivery after being carted for a six off the first ball.

Rinku Singh’s early promise was nipped in the bud but veteran Manish Pandey put on an enterprising show.

That partnership with Venkatesh made the difference in the end.