IPL 10, Match 12, RCB vs MI Review: Badree's hat trick goes in vain as Pollard takes Mumbai home

Royal Challengers Bangalore were boosted by the return of the King, Virat Kohli as they entered match number 12 of season 10 if the Indian Premier League. Virat Kohli made his comeback today after a much-needed layoff. The layoff was a forced one for sure but the Indian skipper was struggling with the bat and the break was needed.

Virat came back to cricket in style as he scored a magnificent half century amidst a fantastic bowling performance from Mumbai Indians. He played captain’s knock as other batters struggled against the tight line and superb length from the Mumbai bowlers. It was his innings of 62 that took Bangalore to a commendable score of 142 as no other batter could even get into the thirties.

The pitch was a bit sticky as the ball was not quite coming onto the bat but Virat’s was a class apart as he hit five fours and two sixes for his 47 balls 62. The other notable contributions came from AB de Villiers and Chris Gayle, as both got out on the score of 22 and 19 respectively. Kedar Jadhav was unlucky as he was run out on off a free hit.

Mitchell McClenaghan was the best bowler for Mumbai as he picked up 2 for 20 in his four overs and Krunal Pandya also bowled well for his 1 for 21 in four overs.

Bangalore somehow scraped to a score of 142 and it looked like Mumbai were walking away with the contest but that was not the case. Samuel Badree turned the game on its head. The leg-spinner was playing in his debut game for RCB as he bowled one of the best 3^rd overs in the IPL.

Mumbai lost Buttler for 2 and they were just 7 runs in after two overs when Badree ran havoc through the Mumbai batting lineup. He took three wickets in as many balls in the third over to claim the first hat-trick of season 10 in IPL. His victims were the opener Parthiv Patel (3), Mitchell McClenaghan (0) and the skipper Rohit Sharma (0).

This left Mumbai reeling at 7 for four when Kieron Pollard walked out. The tide had turned in the favour of the home team as it looked like a matter of time before Mumbai lost another wicket. Nitish Rana and Kieron Pollard tried to web a partnership but Rana succumbed to Samuel Badree who claimed his fourth wicket of the day.

The side from Maharashtra was now struggling as they were 33 for five in eight overs needing another 109 run of 72 balls. Pollard then took the game to himself as his counter attack was successfully carried out. He partnered with Krunal Pandya as both of them took the game away from the opposition.

Kieron Pollard brought up his first fifty of the season with a flat six over the bowler’s head as he smashed Pawan Negi for back to back sixes in that over. The West Indian came to life at the right moment for Mumbai as he scored 70 runs in just 47 deliveries.

After being four down for just seven runs this guy took Mumbai out of trouble but was caught by de Villiers of Chahal leaving Mumbai 16 runs to win. However, the Pandya brothers made sure his knock did not go into vain as they took Mumbai home for a third consecutive victory.

They won the game by four wickets and 7 balls to spare. Mumbai always performs the best when their backs are against the wall and this game is the prime example for the same.

Brief Scores –

RCB vs MI – Mumbai won by four wickets

RCB – 142/5 (20 Overs) (Kohli 62, Gayle 22, McClenaghan 2/20)

MI – 145/6 (18.5 Overs) (Pollard 70, Pandya 37*, Badree 4/9)

Full scorecard & points table here