So,
the points table reads as: Mumbai Indians on 4th, Royal Challengers
Bangalore placed sixth. The latter will have to win all their games now,
and as Kohli said, he will savor the challenge. After the Vizag blip,
Mumbai's recoil that saw RCB conquered at home was nothing short of
stunning. Gayle's selection dilemma is something I will have an ear for.
Till tomorrow, Shabba Khair from Pratyush Sinha on behalf of Sagar Chawla, Abhishek Chaudhary and Venkatesh, our scorer. Ta-ta!
Krunal:
"Really happy the way I bowled. I was varying the pace and the wicket
was on the slower side, so let the batsman guess as to what I was
bowling. Bangalore is a heavy scoring ground but after bowling a few
balls, I got the idea that varying pace here is key. When I was not
playing IPL, my dream team was Mumbai. It's an honour to be a part and
it feels good to contribute in whatever way I could."
Krunal Pandya is the Man of the Match
Rohit:
"Shaking off the previous defeat was important. This win sets us up
nicely on the table. We wanted to focus on our processes and we did our
batting, bowling and fielding well. There was a hiccup but Buttler and
Pollard finished well. Bangalore is always a high-scoring ground. We
discuss a lot in our meeting and we wanted to execute all that. We did
that today. We needed wickets to keep the runs down. Getting Kohli early
was good. 150 odd was easy to chase here and we kept our nerve, and
came out and expressed ourselves. I thought the surface was dry and
slow, which is why we rotated our bowlers to not let them get used to
it. The idea behind containing RCB was to not allow them to get used to
one bowler. We have 3 games left and we will take it as it comes. The
focus now is on the game against Punjab at Vizag. RCB are probably one
of the best teams in IPL and it brings the best out of you (on why they
have a superior record over RCB at Chinnaswamy). Last game was a
disaster and we wanted to prove a point."
Kohli:
"We are literally playing knockouts now. We played really hard. We were
not in the game till the 15th over. Sachin and Rahul gave us hope but
too much to ask from bowlers here at Chinnaswamy. Credit to Mumbai -
they bowled well, batted well. As long as my team is working hard, it's
fine. We lost early wickets. I got caught inside the ring, something
that never happens. Mumbai's spinners bowled very well, didn't give us
any room and our opposition read the pitch better. Cricket cannot
guarantee performances. We gave our 120 percent but couldn't win. It's
not a game of ifs and buts. I love this situation (needing to win all
the games). You have to go out there and make things happen. We have to
win all the games and it's an exciting position to be in. Mumbai played
that way last year and won it. We have the right kind of momentum to do
that."
For
RCB, Stuart Binny snuffed a stunner at deep cover to send Rana back to
the hut. AB de Villiers too plucked a blinder to end Rayudu's
sure-footed innings. Earlier, Lokesh Rahul's assuredness and Sachin
Baby's breezy innings had ensured RCB would recover to a handy total on a
track that was on the slower side.
Despite
RCB dazzling and delighting the boisterous Bangalore crowd with their
athletic fielding, they hurtled towards a gut-wrenching loss. It was
Kieron Pollard who crunched a feisty 19-ball 35 to put MI in the
ascendancy. In the 17th over, he then plundered 15 runs off Watson's
bowling. Pollard was well supported by Buttler who too cracked a few
lusty blows. He along with Pollard applied the finishing touches.
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