Picture : Twitter / ANI
In the clash between the top two teams in the Dream11 IPL 2020 points table it was the Mumbai Indians who came out on top with a five wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in Abu Dhabi. Rohit Sharma missed out yet another match as Kieron Pollard captained the Mumbai Indians.
Pollard won the toss and elected to bowl first. RCB got off to a fine start with a new pair. Struggling Australian ODI, T20 skipper Aaron Finch made way for another Aussie Josh Philippe. Josh Philippe opened with Devdutt Padikkal. The duo started well putting on 71 for the first wicket. Philippe was out stumped for (33 off 24 balls ). RCB had suffered two huge blows with skipper Virat Kohli out for ( 9) and A B de Villiers Out for ( 15).As wickets fell around Padikkal was unfazed and played a gem of a innings of 74 off 45 balls with 12 fours and one six. The rest of the batting slumped and form a target which at one point was assumed to be around 180- 190 was 164 / 6 in twenty overs. Not much to challenge the powerful Mumbai Indians batting – line-up. Shivam Dube ( 2) , Chris Morris ( 4), Gurkeerat Singh Mann not out 14.
For Mumbai Indians, Jasprit Bumrah was splendid with 3/14 ( 4 overs), Trent Boult 1/40 ( 4 overs), Rahul Chahar 1/43 ( 4 overs), Kieron Pollard 1/5 ( 1 over)
In reply Mumbai Indians were in command despite losing in- from Quinton De Kock (18) , and Ishan Kishan (25) . But in sublime form Suryakumar Yadav brilliantly anchored the innings to stay unbeaten on 79 off 43 balls with 10 fours and three sixes . Yadav was sledged by RCB skipper Virat Kohli in eye to eye contact. Saurabh Tiwary (5), Krunal Pandya ( 10), Hardik Pandya (17) fell cheaply he also got into heated argument with Chris Morris. But Kieron Pollard did not allow any further jitters hitting the winning four. Mumbai Indians finishing at 166/5 in 19.1 overs and winning b five balls to spare.
RCB bowling was let down, Dale Steyn looked short of match practice on his return. Steyn had poor figures of 0/43 ( 4 overs), Chris Morris 1/36 (4 overs), Mohammed Siraj 2/28 ( 3.1 overs) Washington Sundar 0/20 ( 4 overs), Yuzvendra Chahal 2/37 ( 4 overs)
#MumbaiIndians get to 16 points in the Points Table after Match 48 of #Dream11IPL pic.twitter.com/5DR2PY00VD
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) October 28, 2020
After this win Mumbai Indians have all but sealed off their play- offs spot. RCB will have to play well to stay in the top two as teams like Delhi capitals , KKR, Kings XI Punjab, SRH are closing in on points. And upcoming matches could be crucial for all teams concerned . RCB skipper Virat Kohli will have to look at the team combination for the upcoming matches as it cannot afford another loss .
