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Virat Kohli perished in the first over. Rohit Sharma was dismissed for his fifth consecutive single-digit score. Still, the capacity crowd at the Wankhede Stadium was enthralled in a high-scoring IPL 2023 affair between host Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore.
RCB captain Faf du Plessis and maverick Glenn Maxwell set the stage ablaze with a 120-run partnership off just 61 balls. Suryakumar Yadav’s blitzkrieg then had Royal Challengers Bangalore reeling under the mat as Mumbai Indians made mockery of a 200-run target.
Riding on Suryakumar’s 35-ball 83 and his 140-run association with Nehal Wadhera for the third wicket off 66 balls, Mumbai Indians overhauled the target with a whopping 21 balls to spare and accomplish its third successful 200-plus chase this season.
POINTS TABLE UPDATE AFTER MI VS RCB
By the time Wadhera joined Suryakumar in the middle, Ishan Kishan had already made optimum use of the Powerplay and got MI off the blocks. The duo then kept scoring freely for the next six overs, until Surykumar decided to change the gears in trademark fashion.
The last 12 balls Suryakumar faced after facing a dot ball fetched him a whopping 44 runs. Mohammed Siraj was smoked down the ground, Vyshak Vijayakumar’s full toss was sent packing into the top tier of the Vijay Merchant Pavilion and Wanindu Hasaranga was swept into the stands.
Suryakumar’s audacious display not only helped Mumbai Indians notch up its sixth win but the Net Run Rate (NRR) difference meant MI catapulted into the third position on the points table.
The MI batting unit, however, would realise that had it not been for its bowlers pulling the plug on its rival’s shaky lower middle-order, the target could have been well in excess of 220.
With du Plessis scooping and driving a hapless MI attack with aplomb and Maxwell at his innovative best, RCB was running away with the game. It took Jason Behrendorff, who had struck twice in the Powerplay, to be reintroduced into the attack for MI to break the lethal 120-run association off just 61 balls. Starting with Maxwell’s slog-sweep to deep midwicket, RCB’s middle order ghosts came back to haunt it as it lost three wickets in 10 balls.
It was followed with RCB managing to add just 47 runs off its last five overs, which was far too low on a belter. With an on-song Suryakumar at the crease later on, even a strong finish may not have been enough.
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