Experiencing an IPL game after exactly a decade, Raipur was treated to an absolute thriller on Sunday night. The pendulum swung both ways, with Mumbai Indians looking favourites after Jasprit Bumrah set it up perfectly with a sensational 19th over that left Royal Challengers Bengaluru needing 15 runs for victory. And for half of the final over, a win looked inevitable for Mumbai, who were desperately trying to keep their faint playoff hopes alive. But an unlikely six from Bhuvneshwar Kumar left MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene fuming and sent the RCB camp into euphoria.
Chasing a competitive 166, RCB got off to the worst possible start as Virat Kohli departed without troubling the scorers. It was his second consecutive duck of the season. Corbin Bosch then made an immediate impact with two successive wickets before Krunal Pandya responded with a counterattacking knock. Alongside Jacob Bethell, the pair stitched together a crucial partnership to revive the innings.
Once the opener departed, RCB suffered another collapse, leaving Krunal to wage a lone battle while battling cramps. Forget running between the wickets, Krunal was barely able to stand at the crease. Yet he sparked hope in the tense RCB dugout after smashing two sixes in the 18th over to reduce the equation to 18 needed off 13 balls. But he could not continue for long, as his next attempt at a maximum ended with him holing out to long-on.
Bumrah piled further misery on RCB with an absolute gold-dust of an over, keeping the dangerous Romario Shepherd quiet with a series of perfectly executed yorkers. With just three runs conceded in the over, Mumbai had 15 runs to defend in the final six balls.
The unlikely Bhuvi six
Raj Angad Bawa, who was retained by Mumbai Indians for INR 30 lakh, had not bowled at all this season before this match. He had conceded 14 runs in his first two overs, yet stand-in skipper Suryakumar Yadav trusted him with the final over. It was an unlikely call, but Surya backed the youngster based on the work he had put into his death bowling in the nets ever since joining the MI camp last year. And Bawa lived up to the expectations in the first three deliveries.
The plan was simple — keep the ball away from Shepherd’s hitting arc by targeting the wide outside-off channel. He started with a wide and then a no-ball, but quickly corrected his length with a shorter delivery, from which Shepherd managed just a single off the free hit. Another wide followed, but Rasikh Salam Dar could only sneak a single, putting Shepherd back on strike. Bawa then bowled a dot delivery that angled across from round the wicket.
The youngster then gave Mumbai a massive sigh of relief as he dismissed Shepherd with a yorker outside off. The batter swung hard, only to edge it straight to backward point. With that wicket, Mumbai believed they had removed RCB’s final batting hope.
After conceding another extra, Bawa stuck to the same strategy of bowling wide yorkers outside off. But Bhuvneshwar Kumar — who has a reputation for being a handy batter down the order, with three Test half-centuries to his name — lofted the delivery over deep cover for a stunning six. The shot left Jayawardene visibly furious in the dugout. His animated reaction clearly suggested he was unhappy with the outside-off line and immediately signalled for the bowler to go straighter.
Bhuvneshwar then took a single on the next ball as tension gripped both camps with the possibility of a Super Over looming. RCB still needed two runs off the final delivery, and Surya was seen having an intense discussion with Bawa before bringing mid-wicket inside the circle.
Rasikh, a former MI player, looked intent on taking a single and forcing the Super Over. He drilled the fuller delivery straight back at the bowler and set off for a run. Bawa only needed to gather the ball cleanly and attempt a run-out at the non-striker’s end. But the ball slipped through his grasp, giving the two RCB batters enough time to complete a second run.
The Bengaluru camp erupted in celebration, with Kohli and Krunal leading the charge, while the MI unit was left shell-shocked. It was not just another defeat. For the third time in the last six seasons, Mumbai Indians suffered an early elimination from the playoff race.
