RCB HAPPY! - RCB defeated MI by seven wickets
Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated Mumbai Indians by seven wickets and nine balls to spare in the IPL here on Saturday. Anuj Rawat was the star of the show scoring 66 (47b, 2x4, 6x6) and added 80 runs for the second wicket with Virat Kohli 48 (36b, 5x4) to take the match out of Mumbai’s reach. This is Mumbai’s fourth defeat on the trot, while RCB won its third match in four games.
PUNE: Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan’s flamboyant start followed an inexplicable batting collapse before the indomitable Suryakumar Yadav with a brilliant unbeaten 68 off 37 balls took Mumbai Indians to a respectable 151 for 6 against Royal Challengers Bangalore in an IPL match on Saturday.
For RCB, Harshal Patel (2/23 in 4 overs) was brilliant with his variations as most of the MI batters had no idea about his slower deliveries, which were primarily off-cutters with occasional loopy block-hole balls that drifted.
MI was 50 for no loss after Powerplay but in the next four overs lost as many as five wickets to become 62 for five and subsequently 79 for six before Suryakumar (5x4, 6x6) with his 15th IPL fifty, gave the total semblance of respect with his counter-attack.
Suryakumar took charge with MI tottering at 79 for 6 and added 72 off 41 balls with Jaydev Unadkat (13 not off 14 balls).
For Rohit (26 off 15 balls), this IPL so far has been about playing some breathtaking shots but not getting a big score as he raced to 26 before Harshal’s slow off-cutter did the trick.
The Indian skipper after having hit four fours and a pulled six couldn’t check his stroke with the bowler taking a smart return catch.
Playing the second fiddle, Kishan’s (26 off 28 balls) attempt to use the pace of Bengal speedster Akash Deep in his bid to play the ramp shot became his undoing as he was caught in the third man region.
Dewald Brevis (8 off 11 balls) found it difficult to negotiate the wrist spin of Wanindu Hasaranga (2/28 in 4 overs) and was rapped on the back-pad.
Tilak Verma had his first real failure due to miscommunication with Kieron Pollard which resulted in a run-out and the big West Indian then got fooled by a Hasaranga googly.
MI, like CSK, is paying the price for a poor auction and rookie Ramandeep Singh, who dangled his bat at a wide slower from Harshal, didn’t look the part during his 12-ball stay.
BRIEF SCORES: Mumbai Indians 151/6 in 20 overs (S Yadav 68) lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore 152/3 in 18.3 overs (A Rawat 66, V Kohli 48)
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