Mumbai bounce back with a win over RCB

A blockbuster 55-run partnership between Kieron Pollard and Jos Buttler took Mumbai Indians past the 152-run target set by Royal Challengers Bangalore with eight balls to spare in their Indian Premier League match at M Chinnaswamy Stadium yesterday.
Rohit Sharma and his men brushed aside their 85-run loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday with a six-wicket win.
A slow start from Sharma (25) and Ambati Rayudu (44), who shared a 58-run stand after opener Parthiv Patel was sent back in the second over of the chase, pushed up the required run rate to 12 but Pollard and Buttler, with five sixes and four boundaries between them, carried Mumbai Indians to a fine victory.
Earlier, with top RCB batsmen misfiring, the team could manage a score of only 151 for 4 in 20 overs.
Skipper Virat Kohli (6), Chris Gayle (4), Shane Watson (15) and Abraham De Villiers (24) did not live up to the expectations and only KL Rahul saved the day for Royal Challengers with a defiant and unbeaten 53-ball 68.
Losing Kohli and Gayle quickly, Royal Challengers lost the momentum to find themselves in a slow paced one-day international kind of situation.
Even after six overs, RCB managed to score only 25 for 2.
Despite being dropped in the last IPL match played at Bengaluru, Gayle is consistently continuing his 'unit score innings streak'. He misfired in the fourth over off Tim Southee to be caught on the long on.
Though De Villiers looked promising after the early jolt, but he too fizzled with a low score.
The same fate awaited Shane Watson (15). He looked formidable with a six and four but was caught short of the crease in a run-out effected by Sharma.
Proving to be a vital cog in the wheel, Rahul played a responsible role, peppering his innings with four sixes and three fours.
In the end, Sachin Baby joined Rahul in the final overs to salvage the innings for Royal Challengers. He hit a valuable 13-ball 25 loaded with two sixes and two fours.
Altogether, RCB suffered 51 dot balls in the innings.
Except for Pollard, who gave away 22 runs in one over, all the other MI bowlers maintained an enviable economy rate for a Twenty20 match, which ranged between 3.75 to 8.75 runs in their quota of four overs.
Krunal Pandya 1 for 15 exhibited the best bowling performance for MI with an economy of 3.75, followed by Southee 1 for 27 with a rate of 6.75.

BRIEF SCORES: Royal Challengers Bangalore 151 for 4 in 20 overs (Lokesh Rahul 68; Krunal Pandya 1 for 15, Tim Southee 1 for 27) lost to Mumbai Indians 153 for four in 18.4 overs (Ambati Rayudu 44, Kieron Pollard 35 not out; Varun Aaron 2 for 37) by six wickets