IPL 9, Match 41 Review: Mumbai Indians breeze past RCB at the Chinnaswamy

Bengaluru was the host to the clash between Mumbai Indians and the Royal Challengers Bangalore. A run fest was expected with both teams aiming to win the match to stay in the hunt for the playoffs. A win for RCB would have helped them stay alive in the tournament and a win for MI would have taken them to the top four.

It turned out to be a low-scoring affair at Bengaluru. The game seemed even stevens until Kieron Pollard and Jos Buttler put an unbeaten stand of 55 off just 21 balls to take the game away from RCB and hand Mumbai their 6th win of the season.

Earlier in the day, having won the toss, Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma had no hesitation in opting to bowl first. RCB brought in Chris Gayle back to their squad in place of Travis Head. The opening duo of Virat Kohli and Chris Gayle looked threatening on paper but didn’t last long. Virat was dismissed early in the innings on just 7 kudos to a well set and planned field by Mitch McClenaghan. Gayle followed soon and was dismissed by Tim Southee on 5.

AB de Villiers and KL Rahul tried to stabilize the innings. The powerplay saw RCB post just 25 runs on the board. AB played an uncharacteristic 27 ball 24 before becoming the third man to be dismissed in the 11th over. Krunal Pandya dismissed AB de Villiers for the second time this season. Shane Watson looked threatening for a brief while with a six and a four before being run out by sheer brilliance from Rohit Sharma on the field.

Watson was run out on 15. In walked Sachin Baby to join KL Rahul. While wickets kept tumbling at one end, KL Rahul looked calm at the other end. He brought up yet another half century in this season. The move to give the over to Kieron Pollard misfired for Rohit Sharma as Sachin Baby clobbered him for 22 runs. RCB posted a below par 151/4 in their stipulated 20 overs. KL Rahul remained unbeaten on 68 off 53 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes while Sachin Baby scored an unbeaten 25 off 13 balls.

Mumbai Indians had a poor start to their innings too as they lost Parthiv Patel in the 2^nd over by Sreenath Aravind. Ambati Rayudu joined skipper Rohit Sharma in the middle and the two played with caution at this uncharacteristic Chinnaswamy wicket. They brought up their fourth 50-run stand of the season in 43 balls. Just when Rohit Sharma decided to cut loose, he lost his wicket and was caught in the deep by AB de Villiers, giving Varun Aaron his first wicket of the season. Sharma scored 25 off 24 balls with 3 boundaries.

In walked the Mumbai Indians debutant Nitish Rana but couldn’t impress much. He hit a six over the third man with an upper cut but perished soon after. Stuart Binny took a blinder on the boundary ropes to get rid of Rana off the bowling of Yuzvendra Chahal. Kieron Pollard came to the crease and hit Shane Watson for 13 runs straightaway. Watson’s next over yielded 18 runs. From a certain hero with the ball, Watson suddenly became the villain on the night. Jos Buttler didn’t take much time either in hammering his countryman Chris Jordan for 16 runs in the 18^th over. Needing 10 off 12, Buttler didn’t take much time and finished the game with 8 balls to spare. He hit one between long on and deep midwicket to finish the game in style.

Pollard remain unbeaten on 35 off 19 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes while Jos Buttler hit 29 off mere 11 deliveries with a four and 3 maximums. Poor bowling, too many no balls, cost RCB the match.

Bried Scores:

Royal Challengers Bangalore – 151/4 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 68, K Pandya 1/15)

Mumbai Indians – 153/4 in 18.4 overs (Rayudu 44, Aaron 2/37)

Man of the Match: Krunal Pandya

How did Twitter react to the game? – Twitter Reactions: MI keep playoff hopes alive with a victory over RCB