RCB vs MI IPL 2018 Match Report: RCB alive, Mumbai almost out!

Virat Kohli RCB IPL 2018

In a must-win game, it were the Royal Challengers Bangalore who edged Mumbai Indians by 14 runs to keep their hopes alive in IPL 2018.

On a slow turning pitch, opener Manan Vohra (45) started in blazing fashion as he hit JP Duminy for 20 runs off 4 balls in his second over. Brendon McCullum and Virat Kohli then stitched a 60-run partnership to keep RCB afloat for a competitive total. But the late impetus was provided by Colin de Grandhomme’s 23* off 10 as Bangalore finished with 167/7 after 20 overs.

Mumbai got off to a terrible start as Ishan Kishan was bowled for a golden duck by Tim Southee in the first over. Umesh Yadav picked up two in two as he dismissed Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma on consecutive balls. To make things worse, Kieron Pollard was also back in the hut by the time Mumbai reached 47! Duminy’s lazy run out meant that Pandya brothers had their work cut out. But some brilliant death bowling and fielding by RCB helped them restrict Mumbai to 153/7 to stay alive in the tournament.

Catch all the highlights from the game here.

The turning point of the game came in the last over of the first innings. Mumbai had restricted RCB to just 143 in 19 overs when McClenaghan came in to bowl. Umesh Yadav stole a single to bring de Grandhomme on strike and the Kiwi international hit three sixes as he went on to add 24 runs to the total which proved pivotal as MI fell short of 14 runs.

The best dismissal of the match was when de Kock took a big dive to his left and latched on to a ball that took an inside edge off Rohit Sharma’s bat. The MI skipper facing his very first delivery was treated to a quick short delivery by Yadav which he didn’t see coming and an acrobatic catch by de Kock meant he had to depart for a golden duck.  

Manan Vohra who scored 45 off just 31 deliveries on a difficult track is without doubt the batsman of the match. He tore into Duminy in the 4^th over of the innings, hitting him for two four’s and two sixes in the first four balls of the over. His innings finally came to an end in the ninth over when he was trapped LBW.

Umesh Yadav who ended the night with figures of 2/29 and an economy of just 7.25 is our bowler of the match. The pick of his bowling was when he picked up the wicket of in-form batsman Suryakumar Yadav on the very first ball of the third over and then dismissed the MI skipper Rohit Sharma for a duck off the very next ball.

Virat Kohli (RCB captain), “Jeez, we needed that win. Such an important stage of the tournament. We all believe in the changing room that this was the push we needed. Important two points. Just told the bowlers, to back their gut. Take ownership of your field, your plans, and own it. Siraj, Colin, Southee were excellent. Umesh, Chahal everyone bowled well. The one over that JP Duminy bowled and Manan targeted took the game away from them. We needed impact performances and that's what happened.”

Rohit Sharma (MI captain), “It's disappointing to be on the losing side. Didn't play smart cricket and losing wickets in the Powerplay doesn't help. Wasn't an easy wicket and we failed to keep the scoreboard ticking. Credit to RCB bowlers, kept us guessing all the time. We would've taken 167 at the start of the day, but we could've restricted them for 10-15 runs less. Brendon and Virat's knock was critical. We keep making those silly mistakes, which really shouldn't happen. Only ourselves to blame. I think we can still qualify to the Playoffs. We can't lose hope.”

Mumbai Indians next travel to Indore, where they will take on the Kings XI Punjab on Friday. RCB travel to Pune as they take on table toppers CSK on Saturday.

With their third win of the season RCB moved up to fifth position on the points table, they are tied on six points with Rajasthan but ahead due to their net run rate. Mumbai moved down to seventh place after their sixth loss of the campaign. Catch the updated points table here.