The IPL 2024 match between Mumbai Indians (MI) and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday (April 11) turned out to be a lop-sided affair as the hosts outclassed the visitors by seven wickets.
Opting to bowl first, the five-time champions restricted RCB to 196/8 on a flat pitch, courtesy of Jasprit Bumrah’s five-wicket haul (5-21).
In reply, MI overhauled the target without breaking a sweat. While Rohit Sharma (38 off 24) and Ishan Kishan (69 off 34) set the tone with an opening stand of 101 runs, Suryakumar Yadav (52 off 19) and Hardik Pandya (21* off 6) produced fireworks later on to seal the deal in 15.3 overs.
After the game, a video went viral on social media, in which match referee Javagal Srinath was accused of changing the outcome of the toss.
Multiple users on X (formerly Twitter) alleged that Srinath tampered with the coin by flipping the sides while picking it up.
However, another user gave them a reality check by sharing a clear view of the toss. The video dismissed all the conspiracy theories as it showed that Srinath didn't flip the sides of the coin, but instead forgot the call made by the RCB captain Faf du Plessis.
After the game, MI skipper Hardik Pandya gave full credit to his entire team for this outstanding show against the star-studded RCB side.
“Always good to win. The way we have won - it's quite impressive. Impact player has given the opportunity to use an extra bowler if we require. It gives me a cushion as well. At the same point, if someone is having a bad day, it helps us to cover those overs. The way Ro and Kishan batted, giving the platform, it was important for us to finish it early. We didn't speak about it. That's the beauty of this team, players know what the situation is. As soon as we saw the target get lesser, we thought we might as well finish it early for NRR,” Hardik said at the post-match presentation.
On the other hand, RCB skipper Faf du Plessis lamented the dew factor while also adding that it's high time for him to win some tosses.
“It's a tough pill to swallow - combination of two things, very wet (the conditions with dew), I need to somehow win some tosses, secondly, they played really well, put the pressure on us and we made a lot of mistakes (especially during the powerplay). We knew dew would be a factor, we might have needed to make 250+, but they made 196 look very less. You know when there's dew coming, you'll have to bat big, the ball was very wet, it was changed a few times and the bowlers struggled,” Du Plessis said at the post-match interaction.
