Riding on a superb knock by opener Anuj Rawat, Royal Challengers Bangalore defeated Mumbai Indians by seven wickets in their Indian Premier League 2022 clash at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune on Saturday.
After restricting MI to 151/6, RCB finished with 152/3 in 18.3 overs as Rawat scored 66 off 47 and Virat Kohli hit 48 off 36.
The Royal Challengers would have been happy with their bowling performance and they came out for the chase in no real rush. Rawat and skipper Faf du Plessis took RCB to 30/0 at the end of the powerplay before the latter was dismissed in the ninth over by Jaydev Unadkat.
But Virat Kohli then joined Rawat at the crease and the right-hand-left-hand duo put on a fine partnership of 80 runs for the second wicket to put the result beyond doubt.
Rawat hit two fours and six sixes in what was his first IPL half-century. The left-handed opener batted with immense confidence and his leg-side play was devastating. He was run-out by Ramandeep Singh in the 17th over before Kohli was dismissed LBW by Dewald Brevis at the start of the 19th over.
But Dinesh Karthik (7* off 2) and Glenn Maxwell (8* off 2) didn’t panic and finished off the chase with nine deliveries to spare.
Earlier, Mumbai Indians got a strong start thanks to openers Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan. Asked to bat first, the record five-time IPL champions got to 49/0 at the end of the powerplay as captain Rohit made his way to 26 with four fours and a six.
But Harshal Patel joined the attack in the seventh over and struck with his second delivery to send Rohit on his way. The right-arm medium-paced went on to return with the most impressive figures among the RCB bowlers with 2/23 from his four overs.
From being 50/0, MI lost five wickets for just 12 runs in what was a stunning collapse. Sri Lanka leg-spinner Wanindu Hasaranga was impressive once again as he picked two wickets in the middle overs. Kieron Pollard’s poor form continued as he was dismissed by Hasaranga for a first-ball duck.
However, MI ended up scoring 71 runs off the last six overs thanks to the brilliance of Suryakumar Yadav. In at No 4, the right-hander hit his second successive half-century to finish with an unbeaten 68 off 37, with five fours and six sixes, to guide his team to a respectable total.
Suryakumar showed his full range as a batter in a smartly-paced innings. He was on top against both pace and spin and found boundaries in all corners of the park.
