Gayle innings and smart bowling hand Royal Challengers win over Mumbai

A brilliant last over from Vinay Kumar, where he grabbed a couple of wickets, sealed the game for Royal Challengers, as they beat the Mumbai Indians by 4 runs in the second match of this season’s IPL at Bangalore. The Royal Challengers, who had never won a match against Mumbai Indians at Bangalore before this, just about edged the intense encounter, and thereby broke their duck against Mumbai at home.

Royal Challengers, after being put into bat by Ponting, started poorly, as they lost Dilshan early in the innings for nought. Virat Kohli, however, steadied the Challengers’ innings alongside Chris Gayle. He smacked three consecutive fours off debutant Bumrah in the fifth over before getting trapped in front of the wicket for 24.

Soon after, the Royal Challengers kept losing wickets at regular intervals, as Agarwal, Christian and Nair all failed to reach the double-figure mark, getting dismissed rather cheaply. Agarwal was dismissed cheaply, as he gave Sachin a simple catch at mid-off for 1, giving the debutant Bumrah his second wicket. The Royal Challengers’ dependable batsman Christian (4) failed to show patience as he tried to clear deep mid-wicket, but in the end managed to find Johnson. Bumrah grabbed the wicket of Nair for a golden duck as he was struck in line, and the umpire had no hesitation in raising his finger.

The Royal Challengers, following the wicket of Nair, accelerated the innings from the 14th over. Chris Gayle shared a 75-run partnership with Arun Karthik which gave Royal Challengers the momentum. Gayle was the dominant partner, as he scored 56 runs in that partnership while Arun Karthik scored 19. The last 10 overs of the Royal Challengers’ innings produced 97 runs, which ended up becoming the difference between two sides.

The Royal Challengers posted a competitive total of 156 on a wicket that offered something for the pace-bowlers. It was a brilliant display of batting by Chris Gayle, while Arun Karthik played a good support knock of 19.

Clearly, the Royal Challengers didn’t fancy the pace and bounce of Johnson, who bowled 3 overs for 15 runs and a wicket.

The Mumbai Indians, who were favourites for this game, required a good start from their two master-class openers.

They had a steady start to the run-chase, ensuring that they didn’t lose wickets inside the power-play. The first 6 overs of the Mumbai Indians innings produced 38 runs, and soon after, Ponting and Tendulkar begun to accelerate once spin was introduced by Kohli.

However, they faltered after Sachin and Ponting’s dismissal. Sachin had a terrible mix-up with Ponting in the 8th over and was run-out for 23, while Ponting was stumped by Arun Karthik for 28.

The Mumbai Indians still held hopes of winning the match, as they had two experienced batsman in the centre in the form of Dinesh Karthik and Rohit Sharma. However, just as Rohit Sharma looked in fine touch, he was cleaned up by Vinay Kumar for 11.

Mumbai had firepower down the order in the form of Rayudu and Pollard. Rayudu played an excellent innings alongside Dinesh Karthik as the duo put on a constructive partnership of 60 runs. Once Karthik was sent back to the pavilion in the last over by Vinay Kumar, the Mumbai Indians lost the plot, as Rayudu was followed the very next ball for 18. Pollard had a tough task, as he had to strike two fours to seal the game for Mumbai Indians. But he managed only one boundary, as the Mumbai Indians fell short by 2 runs.

The Mumbai Indians play their next match against the Chennai Super Kings on April 6, while Royal Challengers play their next match against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 7.