Mumbai, April 15: Mumbai Indians registered a convincing five-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday (April 15) in the return leg of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 encounter.
Chasing a decent target of 172, Mumbai Indians reached home with 6 balls to spare, thanks to clean hittings from Hardik Pandya in the end. The Baroda all-rounder hammered unbeaten 35 runs off 16 deliveries, including 21 runs from the 19th over bowled by Pawan Negi.
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Mumbai were off to a blistering start as openers Quinton de Kock and Rohit Sharma and laid the foundation for the hosts in the run chase. The duo added 70 runs for the first wicket and punctured the visitors' hopes of pulling things back on turning Wankhede track.
Despite losing Rohit Sharma (28) and De Kock (40) in a single over bowled by Moeen Ali, RCB bowlers couldn't contain the hosts' innings. Suryakumar Yadav (29) and Ishan Kishan (21 off 9) scored quickly in the middle overs and never let the pressure of scoreboard climb. Krunal Pandya played a slow knock off 11 runs off 21 deliveries before getting dismissed by Mohd Siraj in the 18th over.
Krunal's dismissal came as a blessing in disguise for Mumbai as his younger brother Hardik finished the game for his team in a single over. Kieron Pollard who was the hero for Mumbai, the other night against Kings XI Punjab, remained a mere spectator at the other end.
Earlier in the day, after being invited to bat first Royal Challengers Bangalore once again made a royal mess in the final over and remained some 10-15 runs short in their innings. RCB lost three wickets in the final over and could only post 171/7 in the stipulated 20 overs.
AB de Villiers (75 off 51) and Moeen Ali (50 off 32) revived their team's innings after openers Parthiv Patel (28) and Virat Kohli (8) were dismissed cheaply in the powerplay. Ali and De Villiers' partnership laid a solid foundation for RCB to post a respectable total on the board as defending a target isn't easy on a batting friendly Wankhede pitch. Once again RCB's middle-order seemed too dependent on De Villiers and no one else could do much in the end.
Lasith Malinga (4/31) and Jasprit Bumrah (4-1-22-0) were the pick of the bowlers for Mumbai Indians. Hardik Pandya bowled three overs at an economy of 7 runs per over and bagged the wicket of Parthiv Patel. Jason Behrendorff (1/49) was rather expensive but the left-arm pacer gave RCB their biggest jolt by getting rid of their batting mainstay Virat Kohli (8) cheaply.
Here's how the match between MI and RCB panned out:
Rohit Sharma - MI skipper: Hardik's hitting has been helping the team and him as well, to move forward. This is something he wanted to do because he didn't have a lot of time before coming to the IPL. So he wanted to prove a point, to himself than anyone else. Lasith's performance matters a lot to us. We missed him for a few games. His form is very critical for Mumbai. Trust me, over the years, bowling at the death at the Wankhede is very difficult. Credit goes to the bowlers for restricting a good RCB batting line-up to 170 odd. To be honest, I still haven't figured out the pitch here this season. Normally it's safe to chase here, but today no one expected it to play this way.
Lasith Malinga gets the man of the match award for his brilliant bowling.
Virat Kohli: We played a pretty good game I guess. With the ball, we weren't that great in the first six overs but the guys fought hard in the middle overs and came back well. At the end, we had to take the risk with the left-arm spinner, with two right-handed batsmen. Giving pace was risky, especially with a bit of dew. Unfortunately, it didn't come off. He's (Moeen) been outstanding. Striking the ball well and bowling with a lot of heart. It's good to see a senior player taking responsibility and he deserves all the credit. (On the road ahead) We just have to enjoy ourselves, play the way we did in the last two games. Need to keep our composure under pressure. Need to take half-chances.
Clean Hittings from Hardik Pandya. He scored 35* off 16 deliveries and finished the game for Mumbai.
What a fabulous finish from Hardik Pandya. Calm head, clean hitting.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 15, 2019
0,6,4,4,6,Wd,1! Hardik Pandya hammers 21 runs from Pawan Negi's and Mumbai Indians have defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by 5 wickets with 6 balls to spare. Pollard remained a spectator from the non-striker's end.
It's all over! Mumbai Indians have chased down 172 for the loss of 5 wickets with 6 balls to spare. Hardik Pandya gives another finishing touch and RCB lost the match by 5 wickets.
Mumbai Indians - 150/5 after 18 overs. They need 22 more from 12 balls. Big hitters Pollard and Hardik are present into the middle.
Wicket! Krunal Pandya (11) is caught in the deep by Milind (sub). Siraj gets a breakthrough. Pollard walks into the middle. Mumbai Indians - 148/5, need 24 from 13 balls.
Four!! Hardik Pandya hits Siraj over mid-off, one-bounce into the fence.
Four! Hardik Pandya gets lucky as Southee couldn't catch him at long-off and the ball goes out of the fence. 10 runs came from Saini's over. MI - 141/4 after 17 overs, need 31 from 18 balls.
4,0,0! Back-to-back dot balls from Saini after getting hit for a boundary. Swing and a miss from Hardik.
Four! Brilliant shot from Hardik Pandya over covers off Saini.
A wicket and 4 runs came from Chahal's final over. He finishes with 4-0-25-2. Mumbai Indians are 131/4 after 16. They need 41 from 24. Pandya brothers present into the middle.
Wicket! Suryakumar Yadav (29) holes out but fails to connect it well and he's caught in the deep by Navdeep Saini. Clever bowling by Chahal. MI - 129/4 after 15.3 overs. Can #RCB pull things back from this stage??
8 runs came from that over bowled by Negi. Mumbai Indians reach 127/3 after 15 overs. MI need 45 from the last 5 overs. They are in control of the run chase.
Four! Short-pitched delivery from Pawan Negi and Suryakumar plays a brilliant square cut for a boundary. Kohli was not pleased with the poor delivery from the spinner.
Just 3 runs came from the final over bowled by Moeen Ali. Top spell from the off-spinner as he finishes with figures of 4-0-18-2 MI - 119/3 after 14 overs, need 53 from 36 balls.
6 runs came from that over bowled by Chahal. Mumbai Indians - 116/3 after 13 overs. They need 56 runs from the next 42 deliveries. Moeen Ali will bowl his final over for RCB.
Four! Superb sweep shot from Suryakumar as he gets a brilliant boundary off Chahal.
Just 2 runs came from that over bowled by Moeen Ali. He's having a decent outing tonight. MI - 110/3 after 12 overs.
This has been a poor season with the ball for Siraj.
Mohammad Siraj’s economy rate of 9.18 runs per over is the equal highest economy rate in IPL history. @RCBTweets @mipaltan #IPL #MIvRCB pic.twitter.com/YMbsN8pE9U
— The CricViz Analyst (@cricvizanalyst) April 15, 2019
Four! Paddle sweep from Krunal Pandya off Chahal and the ball races towards the fence. MI - 108/3 after 11 overs. 64 needed from 54 deliveries.
Wicket! Clever bowling by Chahal as he ends Ishan Kishan's short came of 21 runs. The batsman looked to run down the track against the wrist spinner, outfoxed by the googly from Chahal and Parthiv stumps him. MI - 104/3 after 10.3 overs.
Top knock by Ishan. 9 ball 21 will neither inflate his averages nor will it be remembered after a couple of games. But made an invaluable contribution tonight. Excellent. #MIvRCB
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) April 15, 2019
SIX!! Ishan Kishan hammers Yuzvendra Chahal over mid-wicket. He's dealing in maximums at the moment. Aggressive intent from the batsman. 100 comes up for Mumbai Indians in style.
After 10 overs, Mumbai Indians reach 97/2.
SIX!! Suryakumar Yadav too joins the party. He hits Moeen Ali over extra-cover for a maximum.
SIX, SIX!! Ishan Kishan hits Pawan Negi for back-to-back maximums. These shots would have eased the Mumbai dugout after they lost their set openers in a single over.
Wicket! Second wicket for Moeen Ali in this over. He's trapped QDK in front for 40. Two wickets for him in 4 deliveries. #MumbaiIndians - 71/2 after 7.4 overs.
Wicket! Moeen Ali clean bowls Rohit Sharma (28) with brilliant off-spin delivery on the very first of his spell. Mumbai Indians - 70/1 after 7.1 overs.
Just three came from Pawan Negi's first over. Mumbai Indians 70/0 after 7 overs.
Rohit and De Kock have made this run chase look easy for Mumbai at the moment.
I thought this would be a very stiff run chasem but Mumbai Indians killing it with exhilarating strokes from Rohit and de Kock. Aided by some poor bowling by RCB
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) April 15, 2019