IPL: Rohit fires, MI maul RCB to win match by 6 wickets
Riding on skipper Rohit Sharma's well compiled innings of 62 off 44 balls, the side romped to victory with 12 balls to spare.
Ambati Rayadu (31), Jos Buttler (28) and Kieron Pollard (40) too chipped in with useful contributions.
Pollard's unbeaten 19-ball knock saw him hit three maximums and four fours.
For the visitors, Iqbal Abdullah picked up three wickets while Kane Richardson chipped in with one.
Earlier, Rohit Sharma, the Mumbai skipper won the toss and asked the visitors to bat first, restricting them to 170 runs for the loss of seven wickets.
RCB, who fielded a side sans Chris Gayle, opted for KL Rahul to open the innings along with skipper Virat Kohli.
After a cautious start in which only 15 runs were scored in the first three overs, Rahul (23) smashed a couple of sixes and a four to give his side a much needed push.
Though they lost the first wicket for 32 runs, a 59-run stand between Virat and AB set them up for a big score.
Just when things were looking smooth for the visitors, the left arm spin of Krunal Pandya dented the hopes of the Bangalore fans as he first picked up Virat and followed it up with AB's wicket, all in the same over.
Virat (33) stepped out, trying to slog the ball out of the park but an extra bounce hit him high on his bat as he was caught in the deep. AB (29) was a bit slow to get back to his crease after missing the flight as Parthiv Patel removed the bails in a jiffy.
Seasoned pro, Shane Watson followed in next, only to add further woe to the already dismayed RCB fans. Watto managed just five runs off 10 deliveries.
However, a 63-run partnership between debutant Travis Head and Sarfaraz Khan helped their side reach a decent total.
Head scored 37 off 24 balls, hitting a couple of sixes and fours. His partner played a handy knock of 28. Khan too hit a couple of sixes and fours in his 18 ball innings.
For Mumbai, Jasprit Bumrah picked up three wickets, followed by Krunal Pandya, who chipped in with a brace and Mitchell McClenaghan, who accounted for a scalp.
Rohit Sharma was adjudged the Player of the match.
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.