The three-time Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Mumbai Indians finally registered a victory in the ongoing season eleven after beating the Royal Challengers Bangalore quite comprehensively by 46 runs at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on April 17.
It was a sensational all-round performance by the home team which helped them open their account.
Earlier in the day, it was a brilliant innings by Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma which propelled them to a score of 213 in their allotted 20 overs.
Evin Lewis also batted superbly as the home team went past the 200 mark with ease. In the end, it was a cameo of 17 off just 5 deliveries by Hardik Pandya which propelled them to a big total.
RCB never looked in a chase and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. After a solid opening partnership, Bangalore lost the plot altogether and surrendered victory in terms of runs to the Mumbai-based outfit.
After winning the toss Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli opted to field. Speedster Umesh Yadav provided a dramatic start as far as RCB were concerned. He castled Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan while bowling first two deliveries of the match.
However, it was the only time Bangalore was ahead in this particular game. From there on it was a brilliant partnership by Rohit and Evin Lewis which set up Mumbai for a huge total.
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Lewis looked in ominous touch and stitched together a 108-run stand with his skipper.
The skipper came back to form in style as he scored a brilliant 94 of 52 deliveries. He started going for the big shots in the death overs and connected most of the times.
Rohit was eventually dismissed in the penultimate delivery of the innings after he smashed 10 fours and five sixes during his brilliant knock.
The late flurry was provided by Hardik Pandya. He survived a close shave which also got Kohli agitated. He had a long discussion with the umpires and was simply not happy with why the caught behind the decision of Pandya was overturned.
It required a monumental task from either Kohli or AB de Villiers to get Bangalore anywhere close to the target. Bangalore began well as the openers Kohli and De Kock struck some fluent boundaries.
They got off to a flying start and raced off to 40 in 4.1 overs before Mitchell McClenaghan brought about an end to de Kocks’s knock.
The left-arm pacer also bagged the wicket of dangerman AB de Villiers in the same over. From there on it became really a difficult job for Kohli.
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Krunal Pandya after being smashed for runs in his opening over, came back quite strongly. The left-arm spinner bagged the wickets of Mandeep Singh and Corey Anderson in successive deliveries.
It required an unreal task from Kohli but he was unlucky as he kept losing his partners on a consistent basis. Wickets kept tumbling as RCB never managed to claw their way back into the match.
They eventually fell short by runs. Krunal Pandya was the pick of the Mumbai bowlers bagging 3 wickets while McClenaghan and Bumrah bagged two each.
Yet again young leg-spinner Mayank Markande bowled brilliantly and ended with figures of one for 25 in his 4 overs. Captain Kohli was the lone warrior for Bangalore with a well composed 92.
Brief Scores
Mumbai Indians 213/6 in 20 overs (Rohit Sharma 92, Evin Lewis 64, Umesh Yadav 2/36)
Royal Challengers Bangalore (Virat Kohli 92, Krunal Pandya 3/28, Mitchell McClenaghan 2/24)
