Mumbai: A well-paced half century by Rohit Sharma helped Mumbai Indians notch-up a 5-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, on Monday.
With a capacity crowd cheering the Mumbai Indians on, on May Day, the home side did well to restrict RCB to 162-8 in their first innings.
The RCB batters never got their momentum going, despite getting good starts. AB de Villiers came out with all guns blazing, as he scored 43 from 27 balls.
Kedar Jadhav (28 from 22) and Pawan Negi (35 from 23) brough some momentum back to the innings towards the end. However, a brilliant last over by Mitchell McClenaghan restricted RCB to 162-8. The Kiwi took two wickets off consecutive balls, as keeper Parthiv got a run out off the last delivery of the innings, to complete a team hat-trick for MI.
Mumbai also continued their own innings in the same vein as RCB, losing wickets at regular intervals, but captain Rohit Sharma came in to stabilise the innings, after Nitish Rana and Jos Buttler game them a good start.
Rohit's well-paced 56 off 37 balls kept RCB, who were constantly looking for an opportunity to get back in the game, out of the way.
This win takes Mumbai back to the top of the IPL table. Meanwhile it's all but over for RCB. Not only do they need to win their remaining three games, but they also have to hope that Rising Pune Supergiant, Kings XI Punjab, Gujarat Lions, and Delhi Daredevils do not end up with a higher tally than them.
MI: 165-5 from 19.5 overs
Rohit Sharma finishes it off with a beautifully timed drive on the off side, with one ball remaining. It looked close at one point, but Mumbai got over the finish line with relative ease, in the end.
MI: 130-5 from 16.3 overs
WICKET! RCB pick up another wicket, as the end of the game draws near. Karn went for a big hook off a Watson bouncer, but Milne did well to take the catch just inside the ropes.
MI: 114-4 from 15 overs
Mumbai seem to have regained control of their innings over the last couple of overs. It will be interesting though, to see whether the injured Krunal Pandya comes back to the crease, if needed.
Krunal Pandya has had to leave the field of play after injuring himself, while taking a run, as he dived into the crease.
MI: 98-4 from 13 overs
WICKET! RCB are slowly tightening the screw, although the game still looks like it is in Mumbai's hands. Pollard goes for the slog, and finds Travis Head in the deep off Chahal's bowling
MI: 74-3 from 10 overs
RCB have managed to rein-in the run rate for the last couple of overs. The wickets of Jos Buttler and Nitish Rana have certainly helped their cause with this regard. However, Virat Kohli needs his bowlers to take more wickets, if RCB are to get back into the game.
MI: 70-3 from 9.1 overs
WICKET! Yet another man departs after being caught in the deep. Nitish Rana gets down on his knees to get some distance on his slog shot off Pawan Negi's delivery, but Travis Head did well to latch on to the catch right on the boundary line.
MI: 61-2 from 7.3 overs
WICKET! Important wicket for RCB here. Buttler danced down the track to Negi, and played an inside-out uppish drive. However, he checked his shot in the end, and ended up giving a straightforward catch to Travis Head.
MI: 47-1 from 5 overs
Despite the early wicket of Parthiv Patel, which was conjured-up by Aniket Choudhary on the first ball of the innings. However, Jos Buttler and Nitish Rana have done well to give momentum to the MI innings in the initial overs.
RCB: 162-8 from 20 overs
WICKETS! Brilliant last over by Mitchell McClenaghan there. Gave away only 5 runs, and took 2 wickets. Mumbai even managed to get a team hattrick, as Negi and Jadhav got caught in the deep in the 4th and 5th balls, while Aravind was run out by keeper Parthiv Patel, as the former tried to steal a run off the last ball.
RCB: 115-5 from 15 overs
A much better batting performance by RCB, but will this be enough? The scoring rate has come down considerably after Kohli and de Viliers' wickets. The Mumbai bowlers are now being able to stifle Kedar Jadhav and Pawan Negi for runs.
RCB: 108-5 from 13.4 overs
WICKET! Another one bites the dust. Watson also goes for the big slog, but misses, while Bumrah hits the stumps. Simple.
RCB: 102-4 from 12.2 overs
WICKET! They're falling like a pack of cards again! After a a couple of big hits, AB de Villiers goes for the big slog-sweep again, but top-edges it high into the South Bombay afternoon sky. Jasprit Bumrah did well to hold on to that.
RCB: 85-3 from 10.2 overs
WICKET! We seem to have spoken too soon. Yet another RCB batsman departs, after lobbing a catch in the deep. Seeing Krunal Pandya pitch it short, Head rocked back on his back foot, and pulled it flat and hard. However, his shot went straight down the throat of Krunal's brother Hardik.
RCB: 80-2 from 10 overs
RCB seem to have come out with a concrete plan to score big today. Despite the loss of captain Kohli's wicket, the Bengaluru side have carried their quick-scoring on, as AB de Villiers smashes the Mumbai bowlers all around the Wankhede.
RCB: 40-2 from 5.1 overs
WICKET! What a big wicket this is! McClenaghan fires a slower one into Kohli's pads, as the RCB captain tries to flick it away on the leg side. However, the change in pace of the ball deceived Kohli, who lobbed an easy catch for Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma.
RCB: 31-1 from 3.4 overs
WICKET! Mumbai get their first wicket after a decent start by RCB. Mandeep Singh goes for the big slog-sweep, but only manages to find Hardik Pandya at deep-midwicket. Karn Sharma gets the breakthrough.
Teams:
Mumbai Indians XI: Parthiv Patel (w), Jos Buttler, Nitish Rana, Rohit Sharma (c), Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Hardik Pandya, Karn Sharma, Mitchell McClenaghan, Jasprit Bumrah, Lasith Malinga
Royal Challengers Bangalore XI: Travis Head, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Shane Watson, Mandeep Singh, Kedar Jadhav (w), Pawan Negi, Adam Milne, Sreenath Aravind, Aniket Choudhary, Yuzvendra Chahal
Toss:
Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli has won the toss, and has decided to bat first.
Preview: These are difficult times for Royal Challengers Bangalore. Their hopes of making it to the top four places in the IPL are almost over. Even winning their last four games may not be enough for them.
Mumbai Indians on the other hand are flying high and will climb to the top of the league if they can beat RCB on Monday.
RCB’s bowlers have been the consistent performers this season, however, their batters have disappointed them, registering totals of 49 all out (lowest ever team total in the history of IPL) and 96-9 against KKR and RPS.
The match at the Wankhede stadium provides us a contest between two sides at the opposite sides of the form-spectrum.
