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Mumbai Indians 199 for 3 (Kishan 69, Surya Kumar 52, Rohit 38, Jacks 1-24) Royal Challengers Bengaluru 196 for 8 (du Plessis 61, Karthik 53*, Patidar 50, Bumrah 5-21) from seven wickets

The Wankhede pitch and dewy conditions produced five 50-plus scores, including Surya Kumar Yadav’s 17-ball half-century, but it was Jasprit Bumrah who produced the most decisive performance for the set-up on the night. Mumbai Indians’ second consecutive win at home.

Bumrah’s 5 for 21 – he was twice on a hat-trick – kept Royal Challengers Bangalore to 196 for 8, despite Dinesh Karthik’s unbeaten 53 off 23 balls. Karthik hit four sixes and a four off the last seven legal balls he faced to give RCB a big total.

But it looked short when Ishan Kishan scored a 23-ball half-century inside the powerplay. It looked so small when Surya Kumar, playing only his second game back from injury, reminded the world of his power and range. MI finally achieved the target with seven wickets and about five overs to spare.

Skipper Hardik Pandya was angered when he bowled a solitary over earlier in the night, but the packed crowd celebrated with him when he ended the chase with a six.

Patidar, du Plessis sided with RCB.

Earlier, Bumrah had swept and left Virat Kohli for three off nine balls in his first over, the third of the innings. In the next over, Akash Madhwal produced his signature skid as Will Jacks, who made his IPL debut in place of Cameron Green, flopped a catch at mid-on for eight.

Du Plessis tried to save the power play by staying on the leg side of the ball and using his hands to pump the ball over the top. Patidar also started quickly and later surpassed Du Plessis to become the first of many half-centuries in the game.

Patidar made history with back-to-back sixes off Gerald Coetzee, but South Africa bounced back quickly on the very next ball, dismissing Patidar for 50 off 26 balls.

Bumrah’s Master Class

After removing Kohli with the new ball, Bumrah came back with the old ball to almost shut down RCB’s innings.

In the 17th over, which was full of yorkers or low full tosses, he dismissed du Plessis (61) and Mahipal Lomrur (0). Du Plessis failed to get under the hard-hitting Kim full toss and was dismissed at long-on while Loomer was bowled lbw by a yorker on the next ball.

In his next over, Bumrah once again found himself on a hat-trick but this time too he couldn’t get it. He bounced RCB’s impact players Sourav Chauhan and Vishak Vijaykumar on successive deliveries, but Akash Deep somehow kept out the hat-trick ball, which was a yorker.

Bumrah’s five-wicket haul, though, was lifted off the ground by his former captain Rohit Sharma, and his former bowling partner and current bowling coach, Lasith Malinga, stood at his feet and applauded him from the dugout.

On Sunday, against Delhi Capitals, Bumrah scored 439 runs in a day with 4-0-22-2. Thursday’s performance was even more special on a dewy night.

Karthik wins.

Karthik, who has represented MI in the past, had the Wankhede crowd chanting his name as he picked up a slower ball from Bumrah and launched it over extra cover, providing a throwback for his six that In 2018, India won the Nidahas Trophy.

He also played several other sensational shots. When Madhwal denied him easy access to the short-square boundary on the leg side, Karthik scored him for a pair of fours at short third in the 16th over to cost MI 19 runs. Karthik also helped Madhwal’s last over, the last over of the innings, to take 19, but it would not be enough for RCB.

The cushion burst.

Mohammad Siraj and Rhys Topley swung the new ball in the opening exchanges, but that didn’t stop Kishan from maximizing the powerplay.

When Siraj put one into his pads, he picked it up at leg-score for a six. Then, when Topley took one off him, Kishan smashed it to point. There was a nervous moment on cushion 12, when Topley found his edge, but it flew between the keeper and first slip for another four.

Kishan continued to hit the boundaries and repeated his feat of scoring a fifty in the power play for MI.

A heavenly return

Akash Deep stopped Kishan on 69 and Jacks dismissed Rohit on 38, but RCB would have no respite.

Their bowlers kept losing their lengths as the dew started to fall and Surya Kumar was making life more difficult for them.

Surya Kumar could have been out on 15 but Maxwell dropped him to backward point and then left the field groaning in pain. Surya Kumar then hoisted his flag Suppl Shot and used his wrists and quick hands to bowl wide balls to point. He charged Topley to his fastest T20 fifty in the 13th over with a sequence of 4, 6, 4, 4. He was dismissed in the next over, but Hardik and Tilak Verma sealed an NRR-boosting win for MI in 27 balls.

Divarine Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo.



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