Images from the IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore, at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai, on Thursday.
Ishan Kishan blasted a 34-ball 69 and Suryakumar Yadav a 19-ball 52 as Mumbai Indians trounced Royal Challengers Bengaluru by seven wickets in the IPL match at the Wankhede stadium, in Mumbai, on Thursday.
Chasing 197 for victory, the home side overhauled the target in only 15.3 overs and registered their second straight victory, which saw them move to seventh in the 10-team table.
Mumbai Indians appeared to have an uphill task on hand after RCB put up 196 for 8 despite Jasprit Bumrah's five-wicket haul, but their top order came to the party and easily attained the target.
Faf du Plessis scored 61 off 40 balls, Rajat Patidar hit 50 off 26 balls and, towards the end, Dinesh Karthik fired a 23-ball unbeaten 53-run cameo to give RCB a competitive total but Kishan and Yadav's fireworks with the bat saw Mumbai canter home.
The tone for an aggressive reply on a placid deck was set by Kishan, who tore into Mohammed Siraj to collect 23 runs off the India pacer's second over, hammering him for three sixes and a four.
The onslaught continued when RCB introduced Glenn Maxwell in the sixth over. Kishan swatted two fours and a six to race to his first fifty of the season off only 23 balls.
He again forged a vital stand for Mumbai in the company of Rohit Sharma, the pair putting on 101 runs off 53 balls for the first wicket.
While Rohit (38 off 24 balls, 3x4s, 3x6s) played second fiddle to both Kishan and Suryakumar, the former MI skipper also dished out some spectacular shots before he fell to a stunning one-handed diving catch at short fine leg by Reece Topley off debutant Will Jacks.
Suryakumar, who was dropped by Glenn Maxwell at backward point on 15, went after Akash Deep in the 11th over to collect 24 runs with three sixes and one four.
Playing only his second game after comeback from injury, Suryakumar was aided by wayward RCB’s bowlers, who presented him plenty of deliveries to knock himself into form and the world No 1 T20 batter obliged with a 17-ball 50.
The contest, which saw partisan crowds cheering loudly for both India stars Rohit and Virat Kohli, also witnessed booing of MI skipper Pandya intermittently.
As he walked out to bat, Pandya was hit by loud boos but a section also began chanting ‘Hardik… Hardik' with Kohli immediately encouraging the fans to cheer for the India all-rounder.
Hardik made it harder for the fans to boo him by smashing three sixes in his 6-ball 21 not out.
Earlier, Bumrah's bagged a magical a five-wicket haul before Karthik played a blinder in the death overs to enable Royal Challengers Bengaluru amass 196 for 8.
Faf du Plessis (61) and Patidar (50) also played vital roles in ensuring RCB got close to the 200-run mark.
Karthik smashed 53 not out off 23 balls towards the end of the innings. He demolished Akash Madhwal (1/57) to collect 38 runs off the bowler’s two overs and finished with five fours and four sixes.
In a contest where his fellow-pacers erred consistently, Bumrah's accuracy and mastery over variation helped him rule the roost again.
Mixing his fiery yorkers perfectly with sharp bouncers, Bumrah snaffled the in-form Virat Kohli (3) early on to extend the batter’s ordinary run at the Wankhede stadium while playing the IPL.
Du Plessis and Patidar banished their poor run with respective half-centuries while putting on 82 runs for the third wicket, but Bumrah, who bowled three overs post the halfway mark, seemed to have broken the back of RCB's resistance with a terrific spell.
Kohli perished in Bumrah's first over when he got an inside edge off a wild swipe and Ishan Kishan took a fine diving catch.
Will Jacks (8) began promisingly on debut but played one straight to Tim David at mid-on off Madhwal as RCB slipped early on.
Du Plessis though took RCB to 44 for 2 in the powerplay.
A little tentative at start, Patidar grew in confidence for his first fifty of the season. He also had the bragging rights of playing the shot of the innings when he picked the length of a Hardik Pandya delivery early to send the ball flying into Wankhede’s second tier, wide of long-on.
He did not relent when Gerald Coetzee (1/42) came on for his second over, hitting the Proteas bowler for two consecutive sixes but fell immediately after.
Glenn Maxwell's (0) role was crucial since RCB needed the Australian to go big in their bid to get a decent total, but he became Shreyas Gopal's (1/32) 50th IPL victim, pinned leg-before while playing across the line.
Du Plessis continued to farm the strike and eventually brought up his first fifty of the season, but he too perished when the push came to shove in the death overs.
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