Five-time Indian Premier League champions Mumbai Indians’ baffling start to this season continued. Rohit Sharma’s side suffered fourth straight defeat, this time to the Royal Challengers Bangalore, who had an excellent game in almost all departments.
Mumbai’s problems were further compounded with their batting order not firing on all cylinders just as yet, as well as their bowling, which was thoroughly underwhelming. The team had to rely on the dependable Suryakumar Yadav to rescue them and get them to a total of 151, but that was not going to be enough, with the bowling attack unable to pick up wickets.
RCB left-handed opener Anuj Rawat pulled of an outstanding perfomance, and did former skipper Virat Kohli, who both combined to deliver another crucial win for the franchise, who now sit third in the standings, with a positive net run rate as well, something that could be very handy in the later stages of the tournament.
Faf du Plessis won the toss and decided not to do anything out of the ordinary, as he put MI into bat. Ishan Kishan and Indian captain Rohit Sharma got off to a good start, with the latter looking in spectacular touch early on. Kishan, however, struggled with his strike rate and wasn’t quite operating at the destructive best he is usually reputed for.
Sharma, on the other hand, was magnificent, at one point stepping down to plant a Mohammed Siraj delivery into the stands, as he announced his intentions to get out of the bad run of form he has been having of late. Nevertheless, it wasn’t to be, as Harshal Patel’s beautiful variations got rid of the skipper for 26.
Dewald Brevis was also quite unsettled in the middle, as he too lost his wicket for an 11-ball knock of eight runs. The openers fell on either side of Kishan, prompting a further two wickets to fall, as the Royal Challengers established a stranglehold on the game with Kieron Pollard and Tilak Verma both gone.
Yadav was the only thorn in RCB’s plans, as he stayed until the very end to get MI to a respectable total. He played an invaluable innings, scoring against both pace and spin. He smashed Siraj for 23 in an over, completely changing the momentum of the game, before some excellent bowling by Akash Deep and Harshal Patel restricted the Mumbai total to 151 at the end of 20 overs. The latter produced a remarkable cameo display, finishing with figures of 2/23 in four overs.
Chasing a not-so daunting target, RCB got off to a relatively slow start. Their du Plessis was not in great form, even struggling to score at a run-a-ball as he and Rawat scored just 30 runs in the powerplay. Rawat accelerated from then on, but Faf’s attempt to do so was unsuccessful, as he ended up giving a catch straight to Yadav.
After the captain fell, Kohli and Rawat were spectacular. Virat was looking dangerous, getting a couple of boundaries early on, playing each ball on its merit without much regard to the situation. The two arrested the climbing run rate and kept it under control, as the two looked destined to finish the game all on their own, but for an ill-advised double that ran Rawat out for a terrific knock of 66, as he had done the job for his team.
Dinesh Karthik also had a small but impactful role as RCB closed out the fixture, depositing a Jasprit Bumrah ball for six to pull the game indisputably in RCB’s favour. Virat was adjudged leg before off Dewald Brevis’ first delivery in his IPL career, in a contentious decision that should have gone Kohli’s way. However, that would not make much of a difference as two consecutive boundaries from Glenn Maxwell finished the game in style for the Bangalore franchise.
Brief scores
Royal Challengers Bangalore 152 for 3 (Rawat 66, Kohli 48; ) beat Mumbai Indians 151 for 6 (Suryakumar 68*, Harshal 2-23; Hasaranga 2-28) by seven wickets
