Mumbai Indians have opened their account in IPL 2019 by beating Royal Challengers Bangalore by six runs on Thursday thanks to Hardik Pandya’s last-minute aggressive batting and Jasprit Bumrah’s tight bowling in the death overs.
Bangalore had a target of 188 runs, but Bumrah took three wickets in lieu of 20 runs in hopes of registering his first win. Virat Kohli contributed 46 runs off 32 balls and Parthiv Patel contributed 31 runs off 22 balls, but it was de Villiers who took advantage of the early life, scoring an unbeaten 70 off 41 balls with the help of four fours and six sixes. But despite this, Bangalore were able to score 181 runs for five wickets.
Earlier, Yuzvendra Chahal took four wickets for 38 runs. Umesh Yadav (2 for 26) and Mohammad Siraj (2 for 38) supported him well, but Mumbai managed to reach 187 for eight with an unbeaten 32 off 14 balls from Hardik Pandya. Captain Rohit Sharma (48 runs off 33 balls) scored the most runs for the team. Suryakumar Yadav contributed 38 runs from 24 balls and Yuvraj Singh contributed 23 runs from 12 balls.
Bumrah tied the batsmen
Bangalore needed 41 runs in the last four overs. In such a situation, Bumrah gave only one run in an over and dismissed Shimron Hetmyer (five). This increased the pressure on Bangalore. De Villiers scored 18 runs in Hardik’s next over with the help of two sixes and equalized the score. Bumrah again gave five runs in the next over and took the wicket of Colin de Grandhom (two). Now 17 runs were required from six balls but Lesith Malinga gave only ten runs in the last over.
On the pitch suited to batting, Rohit could not play big innings and Kohli also could not convert a good start into a big innings. In the battle between Kohli and Bumrah, the first phase was named after the Indian captain, while the second phase was done by the top bowler of the country.
Kohli, who came to the crease after Moeen Ali (13) was dismissed, faced Bumrah in the beginning and welcomed him with three fours. Kohli was close to a half-century when Bumrah came for a second spell but he pulled a catch to Hardik Pandya at midwicket. Kohli meanwhile became the second batsman after Suresh Raina (5034) to complete five thousand runs in the IPL.
Yuvraj missed in fielding
Initially Parthiv scored runs for Bangalore, which led to Bangalore scoring 60 runs for one wicket till the powerplay. Mayank Markandey bowled Parthiv to end his 40-run partnership with Kohli from 21 balls. Markandeya also got the wicket of AB de Villiers on the next ball but Yuvraj missed the catch.
De Villiers took full advantage of this and targeted Lasith Malinga, playing his first IPL match after 2017. De Villiers played the first four balls of Malinga, hitting three sixes and a four and completed a half-century off 31 balls.
Rohit and Dickock gave a great start
Earlier, Rohit and Quinton Dickock (23 runs off 20 balls) gave Mumbai a good start. Whether it was a beautiful flick on Umesh or a six from Navdeep Saini pull shot, Rohit looked in the mood to dominate from the beginning but he could not play a big innings.
Umesh came for another spell. Rohit could not pull the right timing on his battered ball. The ball took the upper edge of the bat and Siraj caught a waving catch in the air at long off. Rohit hit eight fours and a six.
Chahal had earlier made Bangalore the first success by bolding Dickock. Yuvraj hit three attractive sixes off Chahal’s consecutive balls, but this leg-spinner managed to get revenge. Yuvraj was caught at long off in an attempt to send the fourth ball for a six.
Pandya did not let fans down
Mumbai’s score was 139 for three wickets after 15 overs, but only eight runs were scored in the next two overs and in the meantime three batsmen returned to the pavilion. Chahal did not allow reliable batting Suryakumar to play a big innings by trapping him in his clever bowling net. He missed a catch of Krunal Pandya (one) on his own ball, but he managed to get a fourth wicket in the form of Kairan Pollard (five). Umesh was sent to the pavilion by Krunal in the next over.
Despite the wicket falling, Hardik kept Mumbai’s hopes. He also did not disappoint his fans by hitting two sixes in the last over of Siraj.
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