The 31st match of IPL 2018 witnessed Royal Challengers Bangalore facing the Mumbai Indians at the jam-packed Chinnaswamy Stadium, where the former registered a comprehensive 14-run victory.
After being into put into bat, RCB rode on Manan Vohra’s 31-ball 45 and Brendon McCullum’s 25-ball 37 to put a competitive total of 167/7 on the board. Virat Kohli (32 runs off 26 balls) and Colin de Grandhomme (23 runs off 10 balls) were another notable contributors for RCB on a slow Chinnaswamy strip.
Mumbai Indians needed a solid platform upfront to chase this stiff target but their openers (Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan) couldn’t step up to the plate. While Yadav made 9 runs off as many deliveries, Kishan recorded a first-ball duck.
Following the dismissal of openers, RCB created even more chaos in the MI camp as Umesh Yadav removed Rohit Sharma for a golden duck. Although Pandya brothers – Hardik and Krunal – put on a 56-run stand for the sixth wicket, they were always playing the catching up role. RCB eventually restricted MI to 153/7 and thereby secured their third win of this year’s IPL.
Twitterati were in awe to see the way RCB bowlers responded in a must-win game. Here are some of the top tweets:
The #RCB fans deserve this moment
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 1, 2018
So, this is how death bowling should go. The @RCBTweets have finally got it right. Outstanding effort both with the ball and with their fielding #RCBvMI
— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani) May 1, 2018
Nice little cameo @Cuttsy31 - hopefully see you get more of a hit next game. Chins up @mipaltan it’s definitely not over yet ???????????????????????? @StarSportsIndia #IPL11
— Erin Holland (@erinvholland) May 1, 2018
Time has also come in the IPL to not blindly choose to chase after winning the toss. #RCBvMI
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) May 1, 2018
Mumbai were always back-to-the-wall after losing 4 wickets for 47, specially Rohit for first ball duck. But credit to @RCBTweets for stout-hearted defence. All frontline bowlers excellent and fielding superb #ReinventYourGame #RCBvMI
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) May 1, 2018
The bowling performance that #RCB needed. Super effort.
— Gaurav Kapur (@gauravkapur) May 1, 2018
The bowlers finally coming good collectively for RCB and they win.
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) May 1, 2018
Southee very good at the death, Umesh and Siraj were exceptional.
Kohli will be particularly happy that they could defend 35 from the last 3. Much needed win for @RCBTweets #RCBvsMI