Mumbai: Mumbai Indians’ bowlers did well in their last six overs when facing the challenge of stopping Rajat Patidar, Tim David and Jitesh Sharma. In the 15th over, Hardik Pandya conceded four runs for one wicket. In the 16th and 17th overs, Mitchell Santner and Jasprit Bumrah gave away just seven runs each. In the 19th, Bumrah kept it down to 13 despite being hit for a six and four. And bowling the final over, Trent Boult delivered an excellent first five balls to concede just 10 runs.
But the damage had already been done in the first 14 overs—propelled by swashbuckling half-centuries from Phil Salt and Patidar, RCB had powered to 183/1. They finished on 240/4 at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday, going on to win by 18 runs.
RCB skipper Patidar entertained the packed crowd with a sensational knock (53- 20b, 5×6). The tone for the innings was set by Phil Salt’s early assault on the MI spinners. Salt, who hammered a 36-ball 78, dominated his 120-run opening stand with Virat Kohli, hitting six sixes and six fours. Kohli marked his 400th innings in T20s with a fifty, scoring a 38-ball 50.
David didn’t get the expected support in the slog overs but inflicted some damage at the end (34* -16b). The total proved more than enough as MI were restricted to 222/5 in the end.
Ryan Rickelton and Rohit Sharma gave MI a decent start of 56/0 in five overs. But once Rohit (19/13b) left with a hamstring injury, they lost momentum. A double blow by RCB leg-spinner Suyash Sharma in his first over—he got Rickelton and Tilak Varma caught—added pressure. Captain Hardik Pandya scored 40 off 22 balls but waged a losing battle. He fell in the 15th over, leaving MI tottering at 145/4 and facing the challenge of getting 94 from 30 balls. Despite Impact Player Sherfane Rutherford’s 71 off 31 balls, MI fell short.
Inconsistency proved the MI bowlers’ undoing. They were also guilty of a slow over-rate. They were unable to build pressure as a good over was usually followed by a loose one.
MI had not started badly. They didn’t pick a wicket but had kept the runs in check at 43/0 after four overs. That pressure was released with spin introduced in the form of Mitchell Santner. Salt smashed the left-arm spinner’s first four balls for three sixes and a four for 22 runs, the score jumping to 65/0 in five overs.
Later, when Santner made amends with a four-run seventh over, Salt broke the pressure by thrashing Mayank Markande for 20 runs. Salt reached 50 off 25 balls (4 fours, 4 sixes). When Shardul Thakur had Salt caught at extra cover, leg-spinner Markande again leaked runs in the next over to release the pressure. Patidar took him apart with three sixes in a 20-run over. RCB’s 150 was up in 12.1 overs.
In the 13th over, Thakur also foundered, conceding 23 runs. It was followed by another expensive over from Trent Boult of 16 runs. MI did pull back things in the last six overs but it was too late.
When your main strike bowler has gone wicketless, the team is going to suffer. Bumrah was again MI’s most economical bowler (8.75) but his wicketless season continued. As the main threat, the opposition batters are always defensive against him, but Bumrah is known to still get the wickets. This time, he has gone wicketless for four consecutive matches. It reflects on the points table with MI suffering three defeats in four games.
Brief scores: RCB 240/4 (Phil Salt 78, Virat Kohli 50, Rajat Patidar 53). MI 222/5 (Ryan Rickelton 37, Hardik Pandya 40, Suyash Sharma 2/47). RCB won by 18 runs.
