Royal Challengers Bangalore eased to a 9-wicket victory over hosts Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium. Chris Gayle sizzled in the run chase as RCB knocked off the target of 142 with two full overs to spare. Gayle entertained the Mumbai spectators with an unbeaten 82 from 59 balls with 5 fours and 6 sixes.
Virat Kohli in the company of Chris Gayle helped himself to an unbeaten 36 (from 25 balls with a four and a couple of sixes). RCB smartly played out Lasith Malinga (4-0-20-0) and Harbhajan Singh (4-0-18-0) but went hard on the other bowlers. Pragyan Ojha got smashed for 25 runs in 2 overs with Chris Gayle taking him to the cleaners.
With this victory, RCB now move into the fourth position while Mumbai are sitting pretty at no.3.
Mumbai Indians recover well to reach 141/6
Mumbai Indians asked to bat first on a seaming pitch at the Wankhede Stadium struggled at 41 for 3 in the 9th over but managed to finish with a competitive total of 141/6 against the RCB. A poor last over from R Vinay Kumar conceded 18 runs to perhaps change the complexion of the match.
It was early disaster for Mumbai Indians against the moving new ball which accounted for the wickets of Franklin and Rohit Sharma with hardly anything on the scoreboard. Sachin Tendulkar scratched around for 27 balls to score 24 before he top edged a pull off Harshal Patel in the 9th over.
It was a decent knock from Wicket Keeper Dinesh Karthik (44 from 39 balls with three fours and a six) that helped Mumbai Indians put up something on the board. Kieron Pollard (21* from 13 balls) played a crucial hand with a couple of sixes in the last over to lift Mumbai Indians to 141/6. Skipper Harbhajan Singh also played his part with an unbeaten cameo of 20 (from 12 balls with 3 fours).
Zaheer Khan bowled magnificently for RCB conceding only 16 runs off his 4 overs. Vinay Kumar, Harshal Patel and Muralitharan took two wickets each for the visitors.
Toss and Teams: Royal Challengers Bangalore led by stand-in Captain Virat Kohli have won the toss and asked hosts Mumbai Indians to bat first at the Wankhede Stadium. The big news for Mumbai Indians is that Kieron Pollard comes back after recovering from his injury. Munaf Patel on the other hand has been omitted.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chris Gayle, Virat Kohli (Captain), AB de Villiers (Wicket Keeper), Saurabh Tiwary, Mayank Agarwal, Syed Mohammad, Vinay Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Harshal Patel, Muttiah Muralitharan
Mumbai Indians: Sachin Tendulkar, James Franklin, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik (Wicket Keeper), AT Rayudu, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Smith, Harbhajan Singh (Captain), Lasith Malinga, RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha
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