Mumbai Indians beat Royal Challengers by 6 runs to register first win of IPL 2019

Bengaluru, March 28: The Royal Challengers Bangalore needed seven runs of the last ball to register their first win of IPL 2019 and get redemption from the drubbing at the hands of Chennai last week. Lasith Malinga, one of the finest limited over bowlers in his pomp, delivered a full ball and Shivam Dube could only manage a nudge down the long off.

But moments later TV cameras caught Malinga's front foot over the line by a good mile but the umpire Ravi had failed to spot the no-ball and the Royal Challengers were denied another possible crack at the win. For the record, Mumbai Indians made 187 for eight after being asked to bat first and then restricted RCB to 181 for five to celebrate a 6-run win, their first in the IPL 2019.

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Before all that drama in the final ball, Mumbai Indians went off the block like a racing car reaching 50 runs inside the six Power Play block. Openers Rohit Sharma and Quinton De Kock fed by a plethora of freebies by Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj and Navdeep Saini cashed in on them with glee.

Even the dismissal of De Kock, castled by Yuzvendra Chahal, did not clamp down Mumbai as Rohit, Yuvraj Singh and Surya Kumar Yadav kept the board moving with calculated stroke play. But the arrival of Chahal for his second spell transformed the course of the game. The leggie bagged three wickets - Kieron Pollard, Yadav and Krunal Pandya, all capable of clearing the ropes with ease in the space of four runs.

Cruising at 142 for three, Mumbai found themselves in a marshy land at 146 for six and they needed a final charge and Hardik Pandya provided it, clattering 32 runs off 14 balls including two massive sixes off Navdeep, one of them sailed over the roof.

But the RCB mounted a serious chase as opener Parthiv Patel and captain Virat Kohli, who became the second batsman after Suresh Raina to complete 5000 IPL runs, put the Mumbai attack to sword. But Jasprit Bumrah, whose duel with Kohli was anticipated hotly, emerged the eventual winner dismissing the big fish to give Mumbai the upperhand.

Even after Kohli's dismissal, life remained in RCB's chase as AB de Villiers, who was dropped on zero by Yuvraj at first slip off Mayank Markande, played gem of an innings, full of his vintage 360 degree shots. But with RCB needing 22 runs off the last two overs, De Villiers and Dube could muster only 16 off them despite the latter clobbering Malinga for a six off the first ball of the final over.

De Villiers remained a helpless spectator for once and his brilliant unbeaten fifty a mere footnote in a Royal Challengers defeat.