Jasprit Bumrah’s excellent bowling effort (3/14) followed by Suryakumar Yadav’s heroics with the bat (75 not out) guided Mumbai Indians (MI) to a five-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium here on Wednesday.
The win took MI’s points tally to 16 from 12 games and they continue to sit atop the table while RCB remain static at the second place with 14 points. Both have played 12 matches each, and two more games are left for each team.
Opting to field, MI restricted their opponents at 164/6 wickets in 20 overs, thanks to Bumrah’s stunning effort with the ball. In return, MI endured a few hiccups but Suryakumar ensured to drive his team home with five balls and as many wickets to spare. MI finished at 166 for five wickets in 19.1 overs.
Chasing the target, MI lost in-form openers Quinton de Kock (18) and Ishan Kishan (25) within the first eight overs. While Mohammad Siraj (2/28) dismissed de Kock, Yuzvendra Chahal (2/37) dismissed the latter.
Suryakumar on the other hand, kept the scorers busy. Saurabh Tiwary, Hardik Pandya and Krunal Pandya chipped in with five, 17 and 10 runs respectively, before getting dismissed.
However, despite wickets tumbling at the other end, Suryakumar patience in the middle finally paid. The Mumbai batter notched up his half-century off 29 balls.
He further went on to steer his side home when he smashed Siraj for a boundary over extra cover in the first delivery of last over as MI registered their eight win of the season.
Suryakumar’s unbeaten knock was laced with 10 boundaries and three sixes.
For RCB, Siraj and Chahal bagged couple of wickets each.
Earlier, RCB suffered a middle-order collapse however, opener Devdutt Padikkal’s valiant 74 and Josh Philippe’s 33 helped their side post 164/6 in the allotted 20 overs as Jasprit Bumrah once again starred with the ball with figures of 3/14.
Padikkal and Philippe took RCB to an ideal start, adding 54 runs in the first six overs.
Rahul Chahar (1/43) got the first breakthrough when he got rid of Philippe in the eighth over which saw Kohli (9) coming in the middle.
The RCB skipper was involved in a brief 24-run stand with Padikkal before falling to Bumrah, who meanwhile, also completed his 100 scalps in the league’s history.
AB de Villers (15) too, tried to stabilise the innings but faltered, becoming a victim of Kieron Pollard, leaving RCB at 131/3 in 15.2 overs.
RCB lost three wickets within another seven runs which left them reeling at 138/6.
Washington Sundar (10) and Gurkeerat Singh (14 not out) added 26 runs off the final 16 balls as RCB reached a modest total.
Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 166/5 wkts in 19.1 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 79 not out, Ishan Kishan 25; Mohammed Siraj 2/28) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 164/6 in 20 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 74, Josh Philippe 33; Jasprit Bumrah 3/14) by 5 wickets
MI’s Yadav learns to take game deep in Abu Dhabi
Suryakumar Yadav on Wednesday equalled his highest score in Indian Premier League that he had hit earlier in this edition. The right-handed batsman powered his way to unbeaten 79 off 43 balls to lead Mumbai Indians (MI) virtually into the playoffs.
Yadav had earlier hit an unbeaten 79, off 47 deliveries, against Rajasthan Royals at the same venue on October 6.
In fact, Yadav is the leading scorer in Abu Dhabi during this IPL, having scored 335 runs at an average of 55.83 in eight matches at the venue.
In the two other venues, Dubai and Sharjah, where he has played two games each, Yadav has just 27 runs from four matches. He has got just ducks in the two games that he has played in Dubai.
Wednesday’s game showed the sense of responsibility that Yadav has been given, thanks to his decade-long experience in first-class cricket.
The 30-year-old from Mumbai has been tasked to take the game deep which he did in all the three half-century knocks he has hit.
“The team management and Rohit told me before the start of the tournament that you have played enough to take the game deep. I am glad I have been able to do it,” said Yadav after his innings.
Yadav added that “a lot of meditation has helped” him in taking the innings deep.
“I was looking to finish the game. I was looking to learn what my game is. Happy to have finished it. Lot of meditation has helped,” he said. “I have worked on my game during the lockdown. I used to love playing on the on-side before. Pleased to have finished the game.”
Yadav played some scintillating shots, including a flicked six to mid-wicket as well as glide over slips.
However, two shots stood out in his own words. “One over cover to Chahal and the back foot punch off Steyn were my favorites,” he said.
We were in the game until 17th over, says Kohli
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli on Wednesday felt that his team was in with a chance of beating Mumbai Indians (MI) until the 17th over of the latter’s innings during an Indian Premier League (IPL) match.
RCB missed a chance to take a two-point lead at the top of the table after losing to MI by five wickets.
“We were in the game until the 17th over and that was a decent effort by our bowlers. It’s basically up to the gut of the captain and the conditions, we thought Dale and Morris for initial swing, and Washy in the powerplay. We needed a few wickets there, but their batsmen did a good job,” said Kohli after the match.
RCB were restricted to 164/6 after they collapsed from 131/3 to 139/6 between the 16th and 18th overs. Suryakumar Yadav then scored an unbeaten 79 off 43 balls to lead MI to victory with five balls to spare.
“It was a strange phase of batting,” said Kohli of the last five overs of RCB’s innings. “Everything went to the fielders and these kind of things happen. They bowled in good areas in the last five overs and stopped us 20 runs short.”
The defeat leaves RCB on 14 points and they remain second due to their net run rate being higher than third-placed Delhi Capitals. They are also only two points ahead of fourth-placed Kings XI Punjab and fifth-placed Kolkata Knight Riders.
“This is always going to happen — some teams peak early and some do better later. As we can see, the teams in the lower half are turning out some really good performances now. When it’s a top-two clash, it will always be intense and in a competition like the IPL, you can’t expect any team to back down and be blown away,” said Kohli.
He’s just getting better and better: Pollard on Suryakumar
Mumbai Indians captain Kieron Pollard encouraged Suryakumar Yadav to stay consistent after the latter’s unbeaten 79 off 23 balls led them to a five-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Wednesday.
Suryakumar came in when MI had lost the in-form Quinton de Kock in the sixth over but took the game by storm. He hit 10 fours and three sixes in his innings. The innings comes a couple of days after he missed out on a place within the Indian squad that will tour Australia starting from November.
“Imagine someone batting at that strike rate after two early wickets. Deep down inside he must be very very disappointed to not have donned the blue for India. He just keeps getting better. Again as an individual if you keep staying consistent, you will be rewarded. Nothing happens before its time,” said Pollard in the post-match presentation ceremony in which Suryakumar won the Player of the Match award.
Pollard triggered RCB’s collapse 131/3 to 139/6 between the 16th and 18th overs with the wicket of AB de Villiers, who looked set for a trademark swashbuckling innings. “I am big on match-ups in a way,” said Pollard.
“I also watch a lot of cricket. I took a punt and bowled at AB. I could have waited for the last over but if someone has to go for runs I thought I’d take it.”
Ab de Villiers’ wicket was followed by a double-wicket maiden from Jasprit Bumrah that put the breaks on the RCB innings. “Bumrah continues to keep standing up throughout the tournament. But again we have been playing total team cricket. Somebody is always there to pick up the slack,” said Pollard.
Bumrah bowls short balls and completes milestone 100 wickets in IPL
Mumbai Indians fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah is known for bowling yorkers, but on Wednesday he used searing short balls to get rid of three key Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batsmen, and complete 100 wickets in his Indian Premier League (IPL) career.
The right-armer’s effort restricted Mumbai Indians total to well below 200 runs.
Bumrah, who got most of the wickets early in the tournament with a mix of deliveries, most of which were fuller or good length, has towards the back-end of the tournament found his scalps with short pitched deliveries that have caught the batsmen by surprise.
On Wednesday, he got rid of skipper Virat Kohli, RCB top scorer Devdutt Padikkal, and all-rounder Shivam Dube with short deliveries that either cramped them for room or could not be tamed at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Kohli tried to pull a short delivery as RCB, in good position, tried to force the pace. The RCB and India skipper top-edged the shot and was taken at mid-wicket. It was Bumrah’s 100th IPL scalp.
Devdutt Padikkal, who looked good for a century fell for a 45-ball 74 as he tried to hit a short of length delivery fired into his body but was caught at long leg.
Shivam Dube couldn’t keep a bouncer down and was taken at deep mid-wicket.
Bumrah’s first big catch in this tournament off a short ball came against Kolkata Knight Riders’ Andre Russell, who was surprised by a sharp, rising one, and tried to back away and duck but couldn’t. He was taken by wicket-keeper Quinton de Kock.
In another game, Nicholas Pooran of Kings XI Punjab was looking good at 24 off 11 balls but then fell to a Bumrah short one, getting caught at long leg.
The right-arm India pace bowler got the better of Chennai Super Kings batsman Ambati Rayudu’s patience, after he kept bouncing him and then eventually dismissed him.
While speaking to media, the fast bowler on Tuesday had said that he assesses pitches and then bowls as per the conditions.
“It’s very difficult to just say, ‘oh you should just bowl yorkers, you should just bowl slower ones’. You have to be very proactive and smart with what approach you want to have and how the wicket is helping as well. So, all of these things I keep in mind and try to do what I can,” he said.
