IPL 10: Match 38, Who Said What: Mumbai Indians v Royal Challengers Bangalore

Mumbai Indians hosted a demoralized Royal Challengers Bangalore side in a day game at Wankhede Stadium. Virat Kohli won the toss and elected to bat first, hoping for a better performance. The skipper would be finally relieved as the Bangalore-based side manage to show some fight by stitching important partnerships to reach a total of 162.

All batsmen in the top order got starts and reached double digits but none of them went on to score big. AB de Villiers reciprocated to the chants at Wankhede with a brilliant 43 at a strike rate of 160, depositing three balls into the stands. Pawan Negi impressed with the bat as he provided the final impetus with his 23-ball 35 which helped the team reach a respectable total.

Mitchell McClenghan proved to be the key bowler for Mumbai Indians yet again as he starred with 3 wickets. He was equally supported by Krunal Pandya who picked up a couple of wickets. Both bowlers gave 34 runs in four overs.

Mumbai Indians continued their prime form while chasing as they chased down the total with relative ease. Man of the match Rohit Sharma dominated the proceedings with his unbeaten 56 off 37 balls at a strike rate of 151. He hit 6 fours and one maximum in the process. Rana and Buttler steadied the Mumbai Indians ship with their counter-attacking innings after losing Parthiv Patel in the very first ball of their innings. In the end, Mumbai Indians won the match by 5 wickets and one ball remaining.

Rohit Sharma

Man of the match and Mumbai skipper, Rohit Sharma trusted the Wankhede pitch and was aware of the fact that they would be able to finish the game off by taking the game in deep into the last over. He seemed impressed with the consistent performance of the bowlers. Sharma looked ecstatic with the winning form they are in at the moment.

We always knew the wicket was good. We could always get to the last over and finish it off. We always wanted to keep wickets in the hand. Overall clinical performance. We bowled and batted pretty well. We won it in the last over, but I’ll take that win. Very important in this format to keep taking picking wickets. That is something we’ve been doing in this tournament. It keeps the batsmen guessing. Very happy with the way we have come out and performed in the last few games.

Rohit Sharma emphasized the importance of remaining clinical until the end of the tournament as they desire to be on top of the table. Sharma was also glad about the way he is timing the ball.

We want to finish games in a clinical manner and that’s what we did today. Always good to spend time out in the middle. I’m feeling good. It was just a matter of spending time out. I pick my areas and back myself. You get value for your shots. You need not hit the ball hard. Finding the gap is important. We want to do that (finish top). We want to be ruthless in our approach. The tournament doesn’t end here. We have to stick together and play as well as a team which we have done so far.

With this win, Rohit Sharma’s team retain the top spot in the Points Table with eight wins in 10 games and 16 points.