In a nail-biting finish, Mumbai Indians beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore by five wickets at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. Despite losing half the side for just 51, Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard held their nerve to chase down 172-run target and snatch a sensational victory in the last over.
Chasing 172 to win, Mumbai were off to a disastrous start as as Zaheer Khan dismissed Sachin Tendulkar for a duck in the first over. In the second over, Gibbs was sent back following a brilliant piece of fielding by KP Appanna with scoreboard reading 4 for 2. Rohit was then dismissed for five in the fourth over and Mumbai were tottering at 19 for 3. Mumbai
Chasing 172 to win, Mumbai were off to a disastrous start as as Zaheer Khan dismissed Sachin Tendulkar for a duck in the first over. In the second over, Gibbs was sent back following a brilliant piece of fielding by KP Appanna with scoreboard reading 4 for 2. Rohit was then dismissed for five in the fourth over and Mumbai were tottering at 19 for 3. Mumbai
wicketkeeper batsman Dinesh Karthik showed early signs of aggression but Muttiah Muralitharan had him caught at the fine-leg boundary for 16. Harshal Patel gave Mumbai fifth blow in the form of Dwayne Smith just after the visitors crossed 50-mark.
Rayudu and Pollard started constructing a fighting partnership and revived hopes of a Mumbai victory. The duo went berserk in the middle and started hitting the bowlers all around the park. Mumbai needed 57 for a win from the last four over. Zaheer bowled went for 16 in the 17th over as the Mumbai duo started to up the ante. In the next over of Vinay Kumar, Rayudu smashed two sixes and a boundary to turn the equation in favour of Mumbai.
Rayudu and Pollard started constructing a fighting partnership and revived hopes of a Mumbai victory. The duo went berserk in the middle and started hitting the bowlers all around the park. Mumbai needed 57 for a win from the last four over. Zaheer bowled went for 16 in the 17th over as the Mumbai duo started to up the ante. In the next over of Vinay Kumar, Rayudu smashed two sixes and a boundary to turn the equation in favour of Mumbai.
The duo hit nine runs in the penultimate over off Zaheer, leaving Mumbai to score 14 in last over. Pollard then smashed Gayle for a six and two fours to seal the match for Mumbai.
Earlier, Mayank Agarwal's 64 off 30 balls powered the Royal Challengers Bangalore to 171 for 6. Rain delayed the start of play by 50 minutes and left the pitch a touch sluggish, but Agarwal rose to the occasion to strike his highest Twenty20 score.
Put into bat, Bangalore's hopes of a good start were jolted when Chris Gayle was bowled by Munaf Patel in the third over for six runs. Virat Kohli soon followed Gayle as he was run out after being involved in a mix-up with Tillakaratne Dilshan. At that stage Bangalore were 11 for 2. Saurabh Tiwary then Bangalore recover from a poor start before being dismissed for 21.
Suddenly, the hosts were in trouble at 47 for 3 by the seventh over. Dilshan and AB de Villiers had a brief partnership until the South African was dismissed by Kieron Pollard in the 12th over with the scoreboard reading 87 for 4. Agarwal's arrival at the crease up the ante for RCB and shared a crucial stand with Dilshan. The crucial stand of 46 ended when RP Singh bowled Dilshan for 47 in the 18th over.
Agarwal then took Malinga to the cleaners, collecting 13 runs in the penultimate over. He then went berserk as he took Munaf Patel to the cleaners in the 20th over. Agarwal stroked two sixes and two fours in a calculated assault in the last over as RCB picked up 24 runs in the last over.
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