Skipper Rohit Sharma led Mumbai Indians to its first victory in the Indian Premier League by smashing 94 off 52 balls as the defending champions thrashed Royal Challengers Bangalore by 46 runs on Tuesday.
Mumbai recovered remarkably well to score 213-6 through Rohit and Evin Lewis’ partnership of 108 runs after the home team lost two wickets off the first two deliveries.
Bangalore, which conceded over 200 runs for the second successive game, was restricted to 167-8. Captain Virat Kohli fought a lone battle and remained unbeaten on 92 off 62 balls, hitting seven fours and four sixes but only three other batsmen could cross double figures.
RCB head coach Daniel Vettori lamented Hardik Pandya’s escaping dismissal on a DRS referral and said it cost the team another 20-30 runs.
Things also went against us. Hardik’s dismissal, had we got him, maybe they would have been 20-30 runs short. It does make a difference in the final score.Daniel Vettori
RCB’s Chris Woakes thought he had Hardik Pandya caught behind when the umpire raised his finger in the 19th over. But, Pandya reviewed the decision immediately and replays showed that Pandya didn’t nick the ball.
Vettori added, Washington Sunder and Yuzvendra Chahal were defensive while their MI counterparts were more attacking in their approach.
I think with Washington and Yuzi, they were probably in defensive position with Rohit and Lewis being very aggressive. When Mumbai spinners came on, their team was in a good position and that allowed them to actually bowl and be a little more attacking. We saw the rewards that they got. So, it’s different styles of bowling. Mumbai were on top when they came into bowl but we weren’t able to do a similar thing.Daniel Vettori
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(With inputs from AP and PTI)
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