Twitter Reactions: Suryakumar Yadav makes a solid statement with an unbeaten 79 to take MI home against RCB

Mumbai Indians’ (MI) playoff spot has been all but confirmed with a commanding five-wicket win over the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Suryakumar Yadav, two days after being left out of India squad for Australia tour, played a match-winning knock in front of the national team’s skipper Virat Kohli to make a statement and got his team home in the 165-run chase.

Earlier, it was Devdutt Padikkal all the way for RCB after they were invited to bat first. Josh Phillipe, replacing Aaron Finch at the top, batted well for his 24-ball 33 as the opening duo added 71 runs in less than 8 overs. Padikkal was looking in special touch on the day as the southpaw played some eye-catching strokes with the likes of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.

He also got to his fifty in the process and took on the MI leg-spinner Rahul Chahar to race into the 70s. At the other end, Virat Kohli struggled on the day and mistimed a pull shot off Jasprit Bumrah who scalped his 100th IPL wicket. Interestingly, the RCB skipper was his first wicket in the cash-rich league as well.

Even then, at 129/2 after 15 overs, RCB were set to launch an assault in the last five overs. AB de Villiers and Padikkal were batting well. However, MI stormed back into the contest picking four wickets in 14 balls for just nine runs. Bumrah was the wrecker-in-chief yet again as he sent back Padikkal and Shivam Dube while De Villiers got out to Kieron Pollard.

It was only due to Gurkeerat Singh and Washington Sundar that RCB somehow managed to cross the 160-run mark and post 165 runs on the board after 20 overs. However, at one stage, it looked like they will easily go past 180. Bumrah returned with the figures of 3/14 while Krunal Pandya was economical for MI.

Suryakumar Yadav leads the chase for MI

MI started decently with the bat as Quinton de Kock and Ishan Kishan mustering 37 runs in 5.3 overs. The former was trapped on the leg-side off Mohammed Siraj for just 18 and then RCB continued bowling well post the powerplay period as well. Ishan Kishan felt the pressure and was holed out in the deep and same was the case with Saurabh Tiwary and Krunal Pandya.

At 72/3 and then 107/4, things looked tricky for the four-time champions but at the other end, Suryakumar Yadav, who missed out on Australia tour in India’s limited-overs squads, made a sort of a statement against Virat Kohli’s team with a stroke-filled innings. He got an able ally in Hardik Pandya at the other end as the partnership flourished.

Boundaries kept coming despite RCB bowling good lines thanks to 360 degree batting from Surya who also got to his fifty off 29 balls. The required run-rate came down accordingly even as Dale Steyn was taken apart during his four-over spell for 43 runs. With 16 runs needed in two overs, Chris Morris got the better off Hardik Pandya but not before conceding a six.

The equation came down to seven runs off as many deliveries and MI skipper Kieron Pollard smashed a boundary off the first ball to make it a no contest. Surya completed the formalities with a brilliant four in the final over as MI won the game easily by five wickets. He remained unbeaten on 79 off just 43 deliveries with 10 fours and three sixes.

Here’s how Twitter reacted: