Mumbai Indians (MI) returned to winning ways after registering a comprehensive victory by 46 runs against the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday night.
It was a terrific all-round performance by the home team which helped them return to grab crucial points. It was a must-win match for Mumbai given a fact they had lost all their first three encounters.
Captain Rohit Sharma came back to form with a blistering 52-ball 94 which laid the foundation for a massive total of 213 for six in 20 overs.
The visitors in the form of RCB kept losing wickets at regular intervals and never looked in any comfort what so ever.
Despite Virat Kohli’s resistance, wickets kept falling regularly which never really allowed them to claw their way back into the game.
Yet again the captain winning the toss opted to field. It was Kohli who won the toss and put the hosts in.
Umesh Yadav provided a dramatic start as he knocked of Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan in successive deliveries.
It was an exceptional start by the paceman. However, that was the only two balls in the match when RCB had the upper hand. From there on it was all Mumbai Indians and the visitors never managed to stage a comeback.
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Captain Rohit Sharma and Evin Lewis staged a brilliant comeback for Mumbai as they stitched together a massive stand of 108 runs for the third-wicket.
Lewis looked in a murderous mood and smashed the RCB bowlers all around the Wankhede. Rohit slowly but steadily started finding the gaps and was regaining form. He was out of touch in the last three games so a big innings was just around the corner.
Lewis smashed six fours and five sixes during his belligerent knock of 65 of 42 deliveries.
Rohit Sharma, on the other hand, accelerated in the last few overs. He looked in ominous touch towards the death overs and smashed boundaries at will.
The right-handed batsman Rohit was eventually dismissed in the penultimate over of the innings after scoring a brilliant 94 of 52 deliveries. The innings included 10 fours and 5 hits over the fence.
Chasing a mammoth target of 214, Bangalore began pretty well with openers Virat Kohli and Quinton de Kock taking the Mumbai attack to the cleaners.
They raced off to 27 for no loss in the first three overs. However, it was Mitchell McClenaghan, who provided a double break in the fifth over which totally out RCB on the backfoot. The wickets included Quinton de Kock and Mr 360 AB de Villiers.
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Mandeep Singh and Virat Kohli looked to steady the ship but after a brief 33 runs partnership, Krunal Pandya bagged a couple of wickets in consecutive deliveries.
Corey Anderson was dismissed on the very first delivery as he attempted a big shot. Kohli was the sole man standubf as wickets kept tumbling at the other end.
He reached a well-deserved half-century in the 15th over. However, by the then, the match was all but gone as far as RCB were concerned. Kohli eventually remained unbeaten, an innings which included seven fours and four sixes.
Krunal Pandya was the pick of the Mumbai bowlers with three while Mitchell McClenaghan and Jasprit Bumrah bagged a couple each.
Yet again young leg-spinner Mayank Markande was brilliant and returned with figures of 1/25.
Here is what Rohit Sharma also adjudged the Man of the Match said at the post-match presentation:
“It wasn’t the ideal start for us. I thought Umesh bowled in the right areas. The wicket was still soft when I went in. So it was important to spend some time and it was better to bat with the dew coming in. It was a perfect game for us. We lost the last three games, but we were playing good cricket. I think me batting at 4 gives the balance to the side and give the new guys the freedom to bat at the top. It is important to finish off games. But I will do whatever the team wants in terms of batting position to get the right balance for the side.”
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