Bengaluru, May 2: Royal Challengers Bangalore pacers blew away the Mumbai Indians’ top-order to set up a crucial 14-run win, which kept them alive in the IPL playoffs race, here on Tuesday. Mumbai Indians bowlers had also exploited the favourable track but leaked a few runs towards the end to allow the hosts post 167/7, a fighting total under challenging conditions.
Captain Virat Kohli (32) and Brendon McCullum (37) added a quick 60 runs in the middle overs to help RCB recover from a slow start before Colin de Grandhomme (23 from 10 balls) hit three sixes in the last over, bowled by fellow New Zealander Mitchell McClenaghan, to provide a solid finish to the innings. Opener Manan Vohra (45) also played a useful knock at the top.
With this win, RCB have moved to fifth place with six points ahead of Rajasthan Royals, while Mumbai are now seventh with just four points from eight matches.
The RCB bowlers, especially Umesh Yadav, produced a hostile spell upfront to peg Mumbai Indians back while Tim Southee (2/25) and Mohammed Siraj (2/28) delivered the goods in the death overs.
The visitors’ chase suffered a huge setback as they lost three wickets inside four overs. Southee got rid of Ishan Kishan (0) and then Yadav scalped Suryakumar Yadav (9) and rival captain Rohit Sharma (0) in successive balls. Kieron Pollard (13) and JP Duminy (23) tried to rebuild but Siraj had the West Indian caught behind, leaving Mumbai Indians reeling at 47/4. The Pandya brothers — Hardik and Krunal — kept Mumbai in with a chance with some smart batting, but failed to see the team home.
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