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A five-wicket haul for Jasprit Bumrah, a 100-run opening stand, a blazing half-century for Suryakumar Yadav, and chants of “Hardik… Hardik” inside the Wankhede Stadium – it was a night to remember for the Mumbai Indians faithful as Pandya and Co registered a stunning seven-wicket win against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Thursday.
With a hat-trick of defeats, it had been a familiar yet disappointing start in IPL 2024 for Mumbai Indians. But a win against Delhi Capitals in the previous game restored some confidence, with the RCB demolition serving a reminder of the five-time champions’ might.
Even as Bumrah became just the fourth bowler in IPL history to claim a second five-for, the visitors would’ve fancied their chances as an unbeaten 53 off 23 balls by Dinesh Karthik powered them to 196/8. But MI, like they had shown in that record-breaking game against SRH earlier this season, don’t really get daunted by big targets and launched a stunning chase to finish with 199/3 and win with 27 balls to spare.
It was Ishan Kishan who set the tone with some high class shot-making. Mumbai, after scoring just seven runs in the first two overs, smashed 48 in the next three as Kishan and Rohit Sharma took RCB’s pacers to the cleaners. Kishan hit five sixes and seven fours in his knock and got a 23-ball half-century.
The openers added 101 runs inside nine overs to put MI in the driver’s seat. Despite Kishan’s dismissal, there was no respite for RCB as Suryakumar Yadav kept up the momentum with some typically brutal strokeplay. The right-hander, who made a comeback in the previous game after a lengthy injury layoff, was in his elements and got to 50 off just 17 balls for his fastest half-century in the IPL.
The icing on the cake for MI was skipper Pandya gaining some confidence as well. The right-hander hit the first ball he faced for six and also ended the match in style with a maximum.
Earlier, RCB were off to a stuttering start with the bat as Virat Kohli registered his first single-digit score of the season. The former skipper, who had struck a century in the previous game, looked a bit out of sorts at the crease having skipped practice the previous day. He had three dots off the first six deliveries he faced, before Bumrah came into the attack and the crowd anticipated a mouth-watering battle. But it wasn’t to be as Bumrah begun with two dots and followed that up by getting Kohli’s inside edge to the keeper.
England’s Will Jacks, replacing Australian all-rounder Cameron Green, didn’t last long and was dismissed by Akash Madhwal. But from 23/2, skipper Faf du Plessis and Rajat Patidar went on to add an 82-run partnership. Patidar was the aggressor and served another reminder of his ability to time the ball sweetly. The 30-year-old, who made his Test debut against England recently, had managed to score just 50 runs across the first five games. This time, though, he looked assured and completed his half-century off 25 deliveries with consecutive sixes.
Mumbai fought back with a couple of quick wickets as Glenn Maxwell, having a torrid run with the bat, was trapped in front by leg-spinner Shreyas Gopal for his third duck this season. But that’s when Karthik came to the crease and powered RCB to a competitive total with some typically innovative strokeplay. Despite a stunning four-wicket burst by Bumrah from the 17th over, the keeper-batter managed to keep the scoring rate up by going after Madhwal and Gerald Coetzee.
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