RCB remain unbeaten on road; beats MI in thrilling encounter
RCB continue their unbeaten streak away from home following their win over Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium. Rajat Patidar led his side to a historic win over Hardik Pandya’s men. The match went down the wire, but RCB’s superb batting helped them to take three points from this game. Mumbai Indians suffer back-to-back losses. This was their fourth defeat in the opening five matches.
It was a thrilling contest that saw both teams reaching the 200 run mark. Jasprit Bumrah made a return after a pretty long absence from competitive cricket. Rohit Sharma also returned following his injury issue in the last match. Despite the return of these two senior players, RCB players were in charge of the show.
Kohli, Patidar, & Co. dominate MI bowlers
RCB were put to bat by Hardik Pandya. Salt smashed the first ball for a four and was bowled on the very next ball by Boult. Despite losing an early wicket, RCB batters were not lowering their intent to score. Virat Kohli took charge, along with Padikkal. Kohli looked very confident as he smashed Bumrah’s first ball for a six. The duo scored 91 runs for the second wicket.
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Rajat Patidar joined his senior campaigner in the middle. After a 48-run partnership, Kohli was dismissed on 67 runs by Hardik Pandya. Liam Livingstone also went in the same over without troubling the score. Then came Jitesh Sharma.
Jitesh and Rajat smashed 69 runs in just 27 balls. The wicket-keeper was the aggressor between the two. He remained not out on 40 in just 19 balls. Rajat played a special knock of 64 in just 32 deliveries. It was a bad day in the office for MI bowlers. They allowed RCB to score 221 runs for the loss of five wickets. Bumrah gave only 29 runs on his return.
Top order struggles for MI
Mumbai Indians needed a flying start. Rohit tried to take on the bowlers, but Yash Dayal bowled a beautiful in-swinger to send the Indian captain back to the stands. Ryan Rickelton and Will Jacks also failed to convert their starts. MI were 79 for three in 9.4 overs when Jacks’ wicket fell. The required rate was around 14 runs per over.
Tilak & Hardik show
Suryakumar Yadav also struggled to score runs on a batting track. He added 28 runs in 26 balls. All the pressure was on Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya. Tilak was criticized for his slow knock in the last game. He came back strongly and played a blinder. The 22-year-old scored 56 in just 29 balls. Hardik played a gem of an innings himself. He smashed 42 runs in just 15 balls. This duo scored 89 runs in just 34 balls.
RCB: Krunal Pandya wins it
Hardik failed to take his team over the line, but his elder brother was successful in taking two points from his former team. Krunal Pandya was given the responsibility of the final over of the match. He already took Jack’s wicket. The final over saw Krunal taking three wickets to stop MI from achieving their target. RCB won the match by 12 runs.
