IPL Bulletin For April 8: From RCB End Wankhede Stadium Jinx Against MI to Jasprit Bumrah Injury Comeback

Add as a preferred source on Google

The rivalry week of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season 18 kicked off with a thrilling contest as Royal Challengers Bengaluru continued to break their past hoodoos by winning at a venue where they last won a decade ago.

The Wankhede Stadium was witness to one of the IPL classics as the unforgiving venue for bowlers once again saw boundaries hit at will, but the final over bowled by a former Mumbai Indian turned out to be the game-changer.

During the MI vs RCB clash on Monday (April 7) night, several milestones were breached with Virat Kohli, Hardik Pandya and Bhuvneshwar Kumar reaching landmarks, while Indian pace spearhead returned from a four-month injury lay-off.

The action does not end there as rivalry continues with a rare Tuesday (April 8) double-header when Kolkata Knight Riders host Lucknow Super Giants before Punjab Kings and Chennai Super Kings lock horns in the battle of the kings. Here is a look at the IPL Bulletin For April 8:

RCB beat Mumbai Indians in thriller at Wankhede Stadium

After Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar and Jitesh Sharma's knocks powered RCB to 221/5 in their allotted 20 overs, MI almost pulled off the chase despite being reduced to 99/4 at the end of 12 overs, but fell short by 12 runs at the end of 20 overs.

Mumbai Indians skipper Hardik Pandya attacked right from the word go, racing to 42 off 15 balls, while Tilak Varma also kept the scorecard ticking with a 29-ball 56. But crucial death over wickets from Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar set up for a final over thriller delivered by Krunal Pandya.

Krunal Pandya exceptional final over seal the game for RCB

Already giving away 39 runs in his previous three overs, Krunal was being tasked with defending 19 runs in the final over with Naman Dhir and Mitchell Santner brought to the crease following the successive dismissals of Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma by Josh Hazlewood and Bhuvneshwar Kumar respectively.

And the experienced left-arm spin bowling all-rounder delivered as Krunal Pandya took three wickets in the final over in a thriller that had spectators on the edge of their seats and sealed the game for RCB.

Krunal removed Santer of the very first ball of the ultimate over before striking the very next ball to remove Deepak Chahar thanks to some terrific fielding partnership from Phil Salt and Tim David at the deep long on boundary. He later removed Naman Dhir after being struck for a four and ended the over giving away just 6 runs.

RCB break Wankhede jinx against Mumbai Indians

Having last defeat Mumbai Indians in their own backyard in 2015, RCB had failed to beat the five-time champions at the Wankhede Stadium in the next six attempts until Monday night. This was RCB's third straight away win this season in addition to their historic wins in Kolkata and Chennai.

While they defended a massive 235 for their previous win at the Mumbai venue against MI, RCB defended another 200 plus total at an unforgiving ground for the bowlers. In their six previous visits, RCB failed to cross the 200-run mark.

Virat Kohli becomes first Indian to score 13000 runs in T20

Star India and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) batter Virat Kohli completed 13,000 runs in T20 cricket, becoming only the fifth player and first Indian to do so. The 36-year-old achieved the feat during his knock of 67 off 42 balls, with eight fours and two sixes.

In 403 T20s, Virat has amassed 13,050 runs at an average of 41.56, with nine centuries and 99 fifties to his name. The top run-getter in T20s is Chris Gayle, with 14,562 runs. Alex Hales, Shoaib Malik and Kieron Pollard are the three other cricketers to have reached the milestone so far.

Hardik Pandya becomes first Indian to score 5000 runs and take 200 wickets in T20

Mumbai Indians all-rounder Hardik Pandya scripted history last night after becoming the first Indian cricketer to the double of 5000 runs and 200 wickets in T20 cricket across competitions.

Hardik, who almost got MI across the line with the bat, reached the landmark with the dismissal of RCB's Liam Livingstone. He had earlier claimed the wicket of Virat Kohli to finish with figures of 4-0-45-2.

The other cricketers with the unique T20 double are Dwayne Bravo, Shakib Al Hasan, Andre Russell, Mohammad Nabi, Samit Patel, Kieron Pollard, Ravi Bopara, Daniel Christian, Moeen Ali, Shane Watson and Mohammad Hafeez.

Jasprit Bumrah makes injury comeback

Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah made his long-awaited injury comeback, representing the Mumbai Indians for the first time this season. The 31-year-old had missed action since the start of the year after picking up an injury during the Border-Gavaskar Trophy final Test in Sydney.

Although he did not dominate the wickets column on his injury return, Bumrah, who has recovered from a back injury, ended with the most economical spell (0/29 in 4 overs) on an unforgiving night for the bowlers in Mumbai.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar becomes most successful pacer in IPL

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar overtook West Indies legend Dwayne Bravo to become the pacer with the most wickets in the history of the Indian Premier League.

Bhuvneshwar gave away 48 runs but got a crucial wicket of Mumbai Indians batter Tilak Varma, who threatened to take the game away from RCB, to take over the lead for most wickets by a pacer in IPL.

Now in 179 matches, Bhuvneshwar has taken 184 wickets as compared to Bravo's 183 scalps in 161 IPL matches. With this, he has also become the third-highest wicket-taker in the IPL behind Indian spinners Yuzvendra Chahal (206 wickets) and Piyush Chawla (192 wickets).

KKR face LSG in rescheduled match

Originally scheduled to meet on Sunday (April 6), the KKR vs LSG match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata was postponed due to the Ramnavami celebrations. The two sides will now meet in the first match of a rare Tuesday double-header.

Both Ajinkya Rahane's KKR and Rishabh Pant's LSG are fresh from home wins, beating Sunrisers Hyderabad and Mumbai Indians respectively in their recent fixtures. However, they now face off to keep the winning momentum going at a venue, where both teams have won once in the two previous meetings.

PBKS host CSK for first time at New PCA Stadium

Having hosted their previous home games against CSK in Mohali and Dharamsala, Punjab Kings will welcome the five-time champions to the New Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) Stadium for the second match of Tuesday's double-header.

While Shreyas Iyer's PBKS will be looking to bounce back from their first defeat of the season, Ruturaj Gaikwad-led CSK will aim to stop a three-match losing streak. PBKS has won 2 and lost 1 so far, whereas CSK has won one and lost 3.