Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) kicked off their VIVO Premier League (IPL) 2021 campaign with a two-wicket victory against Mumbai Indians (MI) yesterday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Harshal Patel starred with the ball, picking up a five-game and AB de Villiers provided the finishing touch, giving RCB their first win of the season.
Chris Lynn along with six-foot-eight-inch left-arm Proteas sailor Marco Jansen made their debut for MI.
Going after a total of 160, Washington Sundar, who opened the batting for the first time in the IPL was dropped off Boult with a second fly-ball. At the other end, RCB skipper Virat Kohli came off the mark with a dominant edge and raced away to the boundary.
RCB openers started with confidence, tackling the speed of Boult and Bumrah, and subsequently attacking young left arm controller, Jansen.
Krunal Pandya provided the early development to MI, dismissing Sundar in the 5th over. Rajat Patidar, who walked in next, struck a boundary before being hit by a beauty by Boult, giving MI their second wicket.
Maxwell joined the Kohli sprinter in the middle with RCB trying to rebuild after two wickets falling inside the powerplay.
Rahul Chahar was introduced to the attack and Glenn Maxwell took the leg spinner forward, perfecting his trademark switch and later played sublime driving inside out, producing the same result.
At the halfway stage, RCB were 75-2 with Maxwell and Kohli looking stable. In the 11th over, Maxwell knocked Krunal Pandya for a max that went deep into the night sky and out of Chepauk.
RCB was cruising, thanks to the Royal Welsh Show and MI was desperately looking for innovative development. Bumrah was brought back into the attack and managed to get the job done for the team, dismissing the RCB skipper in the 13th over.
MI quickly got two timely wickets in a row including a well settled Maxwell wicket but AB de Villiers, who was joined by Daniel Christian, got 15 runs off Rahul Chahar, getting RCB closer to demand, with four over to go.
Shipper Rohit Sharma converted the ball to the best in the business – Bumrah and he delivered again, sacking Daniel Christian and surrendering just five runs in the 17th over.
AB de Villiers kept RCB’s hopes alive after a right-hander broke 15 runs off the 18th over bowled by Boult. He also struck two crucial boundaries against Bumrah in the penultimate.
With three runs required off the last three deliveries, de Villiers ran himself out in a double steal attempt but RCB got off the line, winning on the last ball.
Earlier, RCB, who elected to bowling first, was joined by some fresh faces in the squad in the form of Maxwell, Kyle Jamieson, and Rajat Patidar. Christian was also back after eight years for the same franchise.
MI openers got off guard with Siraj and Jamieson right on the money with the new ball, conceding just 12 runs from the first three overs.
Sharma managed to ease the pressure after signing Chahal over the middle of the game for the first six of the season but was soon run out after a bit of confusion between the MI skipper and Chris Lynn, giving RCB their first success.
Suryakumar Yadav, who was the next man in, hit the mark in style with a boundary as Mumbai Indians reached 41/1 at the end of the powerplay.
Although Lynn took his time to settle, the right wing was in place after he took on left-arm spinner Shahbaz Ahmed, breaking 14 runs in the contest. A no-hitter from Harshal Patel improved Lynn’s confidence as the right-handed player took full advantage of the free shot.
The duo set aside the early wicket pressure after building the fifty partnership between the two as Mumbai Indians moved to 86/1 at the halfway stage.
Jamieson provided the all-important breakthrough of the dangerous-looking Suryakumar Yadav in the 11th over after the Kohli skipper passed the ball to the right arm controller, which turned out to be a fruitful decision.
Sundar was introduced in the 13th over and made it count by taking an outstanding running catch off his own bowling to dismiss Lynn, who fell short of his fifty. Despite losing wickets in quick succession, Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan secured the retained boundaries coming in for Mumbai Indians as they neared the business end of pubs.
Harshal Patel broke the 30-run partnership with a slower cleverly bowled delivery that caught Pandya, who walked across the stumps, followed by Ishan Kishan who was dismissed in the same fashion, after being dropped twice in the depths.
The regulator was back to bowling the pubs final and was able to remove Krunal Pandya and Keiron Pollard from consecutive deliveries, then cast Jansen stubs in the same, becoming the first ever bowler in IPL history to register a fighter against Mumbai Indians.
Short Scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 160/8 (AB de Villiers 48, Maxwell 39, Bumrah 2/26) Mumbai Indians 159/9 (Chris Lynn 49, Suryakumar Yadav 31, Harshal Patel 5/27) by two wickets