Rohit Sharma’s steady fifty guides Mumbai Indians to 5-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore

Mumbai Indians continued their dominance in the tenth edition of the Indian Premier League, beating Royal Challengers Bangalore by five wickets at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday evening. In a match that tested the hosts’ team depth, they delivered an almost comfortable win in the end. The win also put them back on top of the IPL points table and into the playoffs.

After winning the toss, RCB put up a decent 162, aided by AB de Villiers’ 43 and Pawan Negi’s 35. But Mumbai chased it down with a ball to spare, courtesy a Rohit Sharma special. The home captain was also the man of the match for his half-century. For RCB, the only consolation was Pawan Negi’s all-round effort, even as a playoff spot seems more and more unlikely.

Here are the biggest moments of the match.

Mumbai continue impressive bowling

RCB started strong after electing to bat first, with openers Virat Kohli and Mandeep Singh putting up 31 runs in under 4 overs. But just while they looked like running away with a big score in the Powerplay, Mumbai’s tight bowling and Rohit Sharma’s clever use of bowlers put a stopper on RCB top order. Karn Sharma, who came in for the injured Harbhajan Singh, was introduced early in the attack and responded by picking up the wicket if Mandeep (17 off 13) in his very first over. The rest of the top order batsmen couldn’t make it count either as Kohli (20 off 14) and Travis Head (12 off 15) departed in just over 10 overs, even as AB de Villiers held fort. While RCB batted better than their last few games, the Mumbai bowlers did not let them run away with the game, even when ABD looked dangerous. Mitch Mclenaghan continued his good form for 3 for 34 and Krunal Pandya got two wickets while Karn and Jasprit Bumrah got a wicket apiece.

ABD Blitz 

Before this match, AB de Villers had an uncharacteristic string of three consecutive single digit scores. But against Mumbai, ABD was back to his big-hitting best as he scored some incredible shots in his 27-ball 47. While he did not hav much company on the other end, he took RCB to a robust 96 in 12 overs. However, he couldn’t cross the 50 run mark and stay till the end, falling for a fourth time to Krunal Pandya, who held up four fingers to remind everyone of the fact. Right before his wicket, he scored a monstrous six, and looked set for a big score before top edging the next ball to Bumrah in the deep. Just like the rest of the season where the dangerous RCB batting has been unable to capitalize on a start. His dismissal halted RCB’s charge for a bit, with Shane Watson (3 off 5) not contributing much, till Pawan Negi started his assault.

Pawan Negi’s late heroics 

RCB finished with 162-8, a decent total and a lot more than what looked possible at one point, due in large part to the late assault by Pawan Negi, ably supported by Kedar Jadhav. The duo put up 54 runs for the sixth wicket, the highest of the RCB innings. But Negi was the standout performer as he blasted his way to 35 off 23 balls with three sixes and a four. Negi came in the 14th over when RCB were on 108 and when he departed in the last over, RCB had reached 162. Jadhav, who fell on the next ball after Negi’s wicket, contributed a 22-ball 28 and played the perfect foil to Negi. For once, the RCB batting lineup didn’t fold completely and put up a score that has them in with a chance. Negi was instrumental with the ball as well, but more on that below.

Buttler-Rana partnership  

RCB started their defence in the best possible manner as Aniket Choudhary got Parthiv Patel on the very first ball. However, the early wicket did not dent Mumbai’s innings or intent, as opener Jos Buttler and potential emerging player award winner Nitish Rana put together a solid partnership of 61 runs for the second wicket at a healthy strike rate of 8.31. Buttler hit his way through 33 off 21 balls, while Rana was the more sedate partner with a 28-ball 27. While the RCB bowling didn’t allow a run fest, they couldn’t separate the duo either.

However, Pawan Negi was the breakthrough man for RCB with the ball as well, dismissing both Buttler and Rana in consecutive overs, both caught by Head at the boundary. Rana’s catch was a special effort – Head pushed the ball on the field just in time and then recovered his footing to cross back and pouch it, saving a six and getting the third wicket. Negi finished with excellent figures of 2-17 in his four overs.

RCB bowlers mount fightback

When Buttler-Rana were cruising, the target of 163 seemed easy. However the RCB bowlers pulled back the game after Negi’s twin strikes and at the end of 15 overs, Mumbai needed 49 with an asking rate touching 10 and one batsman less. Krunal Pandya was forced to retire hurt after an injury while fielding which aggravated when he came in to bat. The spin duo of Negi and Yuzvendra Chahal finished with 3 wickets between them, while Shane Watson struck with the wicket of Karn Sharma in the 17th over just when he and Rohit were stitching together a good partnership. Choudhary’s tidy spell was ruined with a last-ball six from Hardik, leaving Mumbai needing 18 off the last two overs.

Rohit Sharma special

There have been lost of questions over Rohit Sharma, his form and his batting position this IPL. But on Monday night, he answered all of them with a match-winning 37-ball 56. The captain scored a steady half-century – pacing his innings, building up partnerships, rotating strike and punishing the bad ball – all very good cricket. And when Sreenath Arvind got the ball in the penultimate over, he smacked him for 11 runs, bringing up his fifty and taking the equation to a simple 7 off 6 balls.

When Watson got the last over and bowled a tight line to take the match a nail biting finish, Rohit had other plans, driving a four off the penultimate ball to secure a five-wicket victory with a ball to spare. It was timely return to form for the captain and timely reminder to everyone that Mumbai Indians are indeed one of the most complete units this season.