Rohit Sharma leads from front, powers Mumbai Indians to first win in IPL 2018

18 Apr 2018 10:39 AM | Sports
507 Report

Mumbai Indians (MI) produced an all-round show to maintain their dominance over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Indian Premier League (IPL), registering a commanding 46-run victory at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday. (MI vs RCB HIGHLIGHTS)

Rohit Sharma smacked 94 and Evin Lewis stroked his way to a fine 65, as the two added 108 runs for the third wicket to help Mumbai Indians put up a daunting 213/6 after RCB captain Virat Kohli won the toss and invited the hosts to bat first. (MI vs RCB SCORECARD) In their reply, RCB, who made three changes that included bringing in Corey Anderson in place of Brendon McCullum, lost wickets in clump and ended up losing to Mumbai Indians for the 14th time in their 22 meetings in IPL. For that matter, Mumbai Indians have remained unbeaten against RCB since IPL 2016. Kohli remained unbeaten on 92 off 62 balls, studded with seven fours and four sixes as RCB scored 167/8 in their 20 overs.

It all began when Umesh Yadav’s twin strikes in the first two balls of the contest brought Rohit and Lewis together. They not only steered Mumbai Indians out of trouble but added 108 runs for the third wicket, putting Mumbai Indians on the course for a big total. Even though Krunal Pandya (15) and Kieron Pollard (5) did not provide enough support to Rohit towards the end, Hardik Pandya used a DRS review against a caught-behind appeal to hammer two sixes and a four to score a five-ball 17 not out, which took Mumbai beyond the 200-run mark. Lewis was characteristically brutal, whereas Rohit took his time to open up. The Mumbai Indians captain had a special liking for Kiwi all-rounder Anderson, off whom he smacked eight fours and a six from his grand total of 10 fours and five sixes.

Rohit came close to completing his century when he picked up 14 runs in the final over off Anderson, but he was caught at long-on. RCB began in a brisk manner when Kohli and Quinton de Kock added 40 runs off the first four overs, but Mitchell McClenaghan — who had replaced Akila Dhananjaya — claimed two wickets to rock their boat. De Kock was cleaned up for 19 and AB de Villiers pulled a short ball straight into the hands of Hardik, which meant RCB’s hopes of a fightback were all but over. Mandeep Singh (16) was stumped on a wide ball after Ishan Kishan had missed out doing so earlier, whereas Anderson was dismissed for a first-ball duck off Krunal in the 10th over. Krunal went on to pick up his third wicket - that of Washington Sundar (7) - and returned with the figures of 4-0-28-3. Sarfaraz Khan (5) and Chris Woakes (11) too could not provide any support to Kohli, who waged a lone battle. Kohli went past Suresh Raina to become the highest run-scorer in the IPL history, batting through the RCB innings with a valiant half-century. Kohli faced 62 balls and struck four sixes and seven fours, but found no support whatsoever from the other end as RCB suffered their second defeat in IPL 2018. Earlier, Rohit’s 94 helped him join the exclusive club of batsmen with a half-century of fifties in IPL.

Courtesy: Hindustantimes

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