IPL 2017 Highlights, MI vs RCB at Mumbai, cricket score and updates: MI win by 5 wickets, move to top of table

We review the match no 38 of the Indian Premier League between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Rohit Sharma is the Man of the Match for his match-winning 56 not out off 37 balls!

Mumbai Indians now move to the top of the table courtesy their latest win, and are almost through to the playoffs now.

The RCB players almost became statue-like as the winning runs were hit.  A fine cover drive by Rohit through extra cover and RCB woes continue unabated. It is playoffs ahoy for Mumbai as they climb to the top of the table. Sachin Tendulkar comes out with the MI contingent as the players shake hands. The crowd goes ’ Saachin Saachin'.

RCB fought hard on the field. Took the match to the last over, picking up crucial wickets along the way. But it was not enough. Their batting had not done justice to their talent and ability, though in the overall context of how RCB has been playing this season it was an improvement. The bowlers toiled hard. Even rookie Aniket Choudhary did a fair job. But the team that played better on the day won.Kudos to Rohit Sharma for a terrific innings and MI for the  win and progress to the next stage .

After 19.5 overs,Mumbai Indians 165/5 ( Rohit Sharma (C) 56 , Hardik Pandya 14)

Watson to bowl the final over of the innings. Starts off with a wide. Rohit and Hardik then exchange singles off the next two deliveries. Both batsmen try swinging their bats in the next two deliveries, but only get singles off it. FOUR! ROhit creams the fifth ball of the over through extra-cover to end the game! 

Mumbai Indians win by five wickets!

Despite having an on and off tournament so far, Rohit Sharma has delivered when Mumbai needed the most. He was unfortunate against Pune but today he has played smartly. Superb half century by the MI captain.

7 runs off the last  overs. This should be mi’s game now.  Rohit Sharma playing a captain’s knock.  He fell just short of taking his side home against Pune. He would want to do better here. The good thing for MI,  he has Hardik for company. ‘Jeetega bhai jeetega Mumbai jeetega’ and ’ Ganpati bappa morya’ chants as MI inch closer.  Rohit has meanwhile reached gis fifty off 34 balls.

Most fifty-plus scores in IPL:

38 – David Warner 

35 – Gautam Gambhir 

33 – Virat Kohli 

32 – ROHIT SHARMA*

31 – Suresh Raina

After 19 overs,Mumbai Indians 157/5 ( Rohit Sharma (C) 50 , Hardik Pandya 12)

Aravind to bowl the penultimate over. Singles exchanged by the two batsmen in the first two deliveries. SIX MORE! Rohit shuffles to his right, and smashes the slower ball towards the vacant deep square-leg region, clearing the fence! Rohit takes a single in the last ball to bring up his half-century, and to retain strike for the following over. 11 off the over. 

Mumbai Indians need 7 to win from 6 balls.

FIFTY for Rohit Sharma in 34 balls! He gets there after having clobbered five fours and a six, and is playing a captain’s knock right now!

After 18 overs,Mumbai Indians 145/5 ( Rohit Sharma (C) 41 , Hardik Pandya 10)

Choudhary to bowl his last over. Single for Rohit in the first ball. Hardik tries crunching the second ball through cover in the second ball, and gets only a single thanks to the protection out there. Hardik gets a double in the fourth ball, thanks to some slow work at deep extra-cover. Dot off the fifth, with Choudhary unleashing another bouncer. Wide conceded off the final ball. SIX! Hardik pulls the last ball over the square-leg fence for a maximum! 

Mumbai Indians need 18 to win from 12 balls.

After 17 overs,Mumbai Indians 133/5 ( Rohit Sharma (C) 39 , Hardik Pandya 1)

Watson to bowl the 17th over. FOUR! Rohit waits for the ball to come on to the bat, and goes for a backfoot punch wide of extra-cover! Karn though, suffers a lapse of concentration in the third ball, pulling straight to Milne at the square-leg boundary. Hardik is the new batsman at the crease, and he gets off the mark with a single in the first ball that he faces. Rohit keeps the strike for himself with a single in the last ball. MI now need to score at 10 per over in their last three overs. Another thriller on the cards?

Mumbai Indians need 30 to win from 18 balls.

OUT! Lapse of concentration for Karn, who pulls straight to Milne at deep square-leg off a pull! MI 130/5

Karn c Milne b Watson 9(8)

After 16 overs,Mumbai Indians 125/4 ( Rohit Sharma (C) 32 , Karn Sharma 9)

Chahal into his final over. Karn collects a single in the first ball of the over. FOUR! Full and outside off, Karn swats this one down the ground! Pulls the next one towards the midwicket fielder, and decides against coming back for a second run. 2 wides in the fifth delivery. 11 off the over, with the partnership between Rohit and Karn worth 24 so far. The umpire calls for a timeout at the end of the over. 

Mumbai Indians need 38 to win from 24 balls.

After 15 overs,Mumbai Indians 114/4 ( Rohit Sharma (C) 30 , Karn Sharma 2)

Choudhary back into the attack. Rohit tries to ramp the first ball over the keeper’s head, and misses. Slashes the second ball towards the off side to collect a single. Bouncer in the third ball. FOUR! Much-needed boundary to take some of the pressure off for Rohit! Makes it consecutive boundaries to end the over, driving the next one towards the extra-cover boundary! 10 off the over. 

Mumbai Indians need 49 to win from 30 balls.

After 14 overs,Mumbai Indians 104/4 ( Rohit Sharma (C) 21 , Karn Sharma 1)

Negi into his final over, and boy has he been good today. Krunal, who is the new batsman out, is visibly in pain, and has to retire hurt after a dive at the non-striker’s end in the third ball of the over. Six singles off the over, with new batsman Karn Sharma getting off the mark in the first delivery that he faces. 

Mumbai Indians need 59 to win from 36 balls.

After 13 overs,Mumbai Indians 98/4 ( Rohit Sharma (C) 18 , )

Chahal into his third over. FOUR! Pollard comes down the ground, and flicks the leggie towards the wide long-on boundary, beating the fielder. Pollard though, ends up flicking the final ball of over straight to Head at deep midwicket. Eight runs off the over along with the wicket of Pollard.

Mumbai Indians need 65 to win from 42 balls.

The crowd in the Divecha pavilion is going ga-ga over Kohli  as the RCB captain is fielding at long on near that stand. Pollard sends one in that direction. Kohli gives chase but fails to cut it off. Pollard is sonn sent back by Chahal.  That brings Krunal Pandya to the crease.

Krunal Pandya has been shadow practising since a long time now. It looked like he won’t bat after he injured himself while fielding. But now, he is ready to play.

OUT! And now it is Pollard who has to head back to the dugout, coming down the ground, and flicks the final ball of the over straight to Travis Head at the midwicket boundary! MI nervy at 98/4

Pollard c Head b Chahal 17(13)

Kieron Pollard walked out to a huge reception from the Wankede. ‘Apna Karan (Kieron)  aa gaya, ’ says a voice in the crowd.

Pawan Negi has bowled brilliantly in his two overs. Never really allowed the batsman to take control. He has just conceded eight runs and picked up two important wickets of Butler and Rana.

Rohit Sharma becomes the fourth batsman to score 4000-plus runs in IPL. The other three are Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir.

 Slowest to 4000 runs in IPL: (By innings)

147 – ROHIT SHARMA*

140 – Suresh Raina, Gautam Gambhir

128 – Virat Kohli

After 12 overs,Mumbai Indians 90/3 ( Rohit Sharma (C) 17 , Kieron Pollard 10)

Negi into his third over, and he has been fantastic so far! Rohit tries cutting the second ball, but can only get a single after the ball bounces over the keeper’s head with an inside-edge. Couple of runs for Pollard thanks to a misfield by Chahal near backward square-leg. 

Mumbai Indians need 73 to win from 48 balls.

After 11 overs,Mumbai Indians 86/3 ( Rohit Sharma (C) 16 , Kieron Pollard 8)

Milne back for his second over. FOUR! Rohit cuts the second ball towards the backward point boundary with finesse! Pollard guides the fifth ball towards backward square-leg to grab a double, before guiding the last ball towards fine-leg for a four. 12 off the over. 

Mumbai Indians need 77 to win from 54 balls.

After 10 overs,Mumbai Indians 74/3 ( Rohit Sharma (C) 11 , Kieron Pollard 1)

Negi into his second over, and delivers for his captain once again, this time getting rid of the young talismanic batsman Rana, who gets caught at deep midwicket by Head. Rohit brings up a personal milestone in the last ball with a double, becoming the fourth batsman to 4,000 IPL runs. Four runs and a wicket off this over. 

Mumbai Indians need 89 to win from 60 balls.

OUT! Now it is Rana’s turn to depart, and Negi is turning out to be quite the valuable bowler for Kohli! Rana tries slogging this one towards the leg side, but doesn’t quite connect in this one. MI 70/3

Rana c Head b Negi 27(28)

Rohit Sharma comes in at the fall of Buttler’s wicket.  Rohit has not scored a lot of runs in the IPL this season so far, but just may be his day.  What the RCB bowlers have done is not let MI run away with the match .  Good and accurate bowling from Watson. Beats Rana outside off

After 9 overs,Mumbai Indians 70/2 ( Nitish Rana 27 , Rohit Sharma (C) 8)

Watson into his second over. Rohit plays the first delivery towards the leg side for a couple of runs. Would have been another good over for Watson, before Rohit smacks him towards the midwicket boundary to get his first boundary. Eight off the over.

Mumbai Indians need 93 to win from 66 balls.

After 8 overs,Mumbai Indians 62/2 ( Nitish Rana 26 , Rohit Sharma (C) 1)

Negi introduced into the attack now. He was quite handy with the bat earlier. Remains to be seen if he can get a breakthrough for captain Virat with the ball. And he does exactly that in the third ball of the over, with Buttler coming down the ground and driving straight into the hands of extra-cover. Skipper Rohit Sharma walks out to bat, and gets off the mark in his second delivery with a single. Superb over for RCB, with just four and a wicket coming ff it. 

Mumbai Indians need 101 to win from 72 balls.

OUT! Negi gets the much-needed breakthrough in just his third delivery, with Buttler coming down the track and driving straight into the hands of Head at extra-cover! MI 61/2

Buttler c Head b Negi 33(21)

After 7 overs,Mumbai Indians 58/1 ( Jos Buttler 31 , Nitish Rana 25)

Watson introduced into the attack in the seventh over. And a tidy one for RCB, with just three singles coming off it. With the two batsmen at the crease, having smacked quite a few boundaries around the ground in the powerplay overs, they will look to canter along for some time. 

Mumbai Indians need 105 to win from 78 balls.

RCB going with 2 spinners deprives them of their best new ball bowler Sam Badree. Chahal and Negi will have to step up and make up for his absence. Clutch of wickets only hope when target not too stiff

After 6 overs,Mumbai Indians 55/1 ( Jos Buttler 30 , Nitish Rana 23)

Chahal to bowl the final over of the powerplay. Keeps it tight for the first five deliveries, giving away just two singles, before Buttler smashes a monster six towards wide long-on, with eight coming off it. Strategic timeout signalled at the end of the over. 

Mumbai Indians need 108 to win from 84 balls

Bit of a lull in play.  MI had made their way to 36/1 after 4 overs.  The Wankhede has found its own way to keep itself entertained as it suddenly goes ‘Saaachin Saaachin’.  The DJ calls fir a flag-waving competition among the stands

After 5 overs,Mumbai Indians 47/1 ( Jos Buttler 23 , Nitish Rana 22)

Aaravind introduced into the attack in the fifth over. FOUR! Rana pats the second ball of the over down the ground for his fourth boundary! FOUR! In the slot for Buttler to smack it down the ground, and the Englishman does exactly that in the penultimate delivery of the over. 11 off the over, with a single off the last one. MI progressing quite well at this stage.

After 4 overs,Mumbai Indians 36/1 ( Jos Buttler 18 , Nitish Rana 17)

Choudhary to bowl his second over of the innings. Buttler tries hammering the second ball of the over down the ground, but Choudhary’s foot takes the pace off the ball, and Chahal is able to dive near the straight boundary to save a couple of runs for the visitors. Vicious bouncer in the fourth ball. Four runs off the over, a much better one for RCB.

Jos Butler smashes back to back boundaries to put Adam Milne under pressure. RCB will have to contain MI in the first 6 overs.

After 3 overs,Mumbai Indians 32/1 ( Jos Buttler 15 , Nitish Rana 16)

Milne introduced into the attack. Buttler launches himself in this over with back-to-back fours. First a drive wide of mid-on, before pulling the short ball outside off towards midwicket. Misfield by Aravind at third man after a slash by Buttler, and manages to stop the boundary in the last second. Wide in the fourth delivery. Miscue by Rana in the fifth ball while looking to guide it towards the leg side, though it is too tough for Choudhary to collect while running backwards. Four more in the last ball, with Buttler timing his drive to perfection. 17 off the over.

After 2 overs,Mumbai Indians 15/1 ( Jos Buttler 2 , Nitish Rana 13)

Chahal into the attack from the other end, and there are a couple of scares for MI in this over. A bit of a mix-up between Buttler and Rana in the second ball, with Rana’s sweep in the fourth delivery falling just short of the fielder at backward square-leg, before running away for a four. Boundary the last ball, with Rana piercing the gap between extra-cover and mid-on this time. Nine off the over.

After 1 overs,Mumbai Indians 6/1 ( Jos Buttler 1 , Nitish Rana 5)
 

Nightmarish start for MI, with Parthiv choosing to pull the first ball towards the leg side, and miscuing it. Gets caught at short midwicket. Rana, the new batsman at the crease, flicks the last ball of the over towards the fine-leg boundary. Six off the over .

The score that RCB could manage in the end — 162/8 — looks a bit underpar. Mcclenaghan again the pick of the bowlers for MI.  None of the batsmen from the visiting side could go on and put up a big score.  Kohli and ABD gots starts but railed to convert.  Will have to favour MI to win this one.

Most ducks in IPL:

13 – Harbhajan Singh 

12 – Gautam Gambhir, PARTHIV PATEL*

11 – Manish Pandey, Piyush Chawla

OUT! Golden duck for Parthiv, and he walks off first ball! Miscues his pull towards the leg side, and Chahal pulls off a superb catch down at short midwicket. MI 0/1

Parthiv c Chahal b Choudhary 0(1)

Choudhary bowls the first over of the innings. Parthiv and Buttler open as usual.

Mumbai Indians have lost only one match out of four while chasing at Wankhede in this IPL. On the contrary side, Royal Challengers Bangalore have won two matches in this IPL and both while batting first. 

Royal Challengers Bangalore today:

1-6 overs: 52/2 (RR-8.66) 

7-15 overs: 63/3 (RR-7.00) 

16-20 overs: 47/3 (RR-9.40)

Will the middle-overs hurt Royal Challengers Bangalore once again at the end of the match?

After 20 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 162/8 ( Adam Milne 0 , )

McClenaghan to bowl the final over of the innings. Jadhav tries to slog the first ball over the cover boundary, but doesn’t connect, and ends up with a single, which brings up the 50-stand for the sixth wicket. Negi reaches out for a wide-pitched delivery, and hammers it down the ground for his first boundary. Negi holes out to Pollard at long-on  while attempting to slog a slower ball from McClenaghan. Jadhav is dismissed in the next delivery in a near-repeat of the previous dismissal, and it is a team hat-trick in the final ball as Aravind is run-out for a diamond duck. 

Mumbai Indians need 163 to win from 20 overs!

OUT! Milne faces the last ball, misses, and sets off for a run with non-striker Aravind budging from his spot quite late and getting run-out. Parthiv runs down and clips the bails off. Three wickets off the last three balls! RCB 162/8

Adam Milne run out 0(0)

OUT! A near repeat of the previous dismissal, just that it is Jadhav who has to depart, getting caught by Pollard at long-off off McClenaghan, who is on a hat-trick right now. RCB 162/7

Jadhav c Pollard b McClenaghan 28(22)

OUT! Just when Negi seemed to be connecting to about every delivery, he doesn’t quite time his slog down the ground, and gets caught by Pollard at long-on. He has done his bit to accelerate the RCB innings though. RCB 162/6

Negi c Pollard b McClenaghan 35(23)

It is obvious that RCB have lost their way yet again. The innings held plenty of promise when Kohli and ABD were out in the middle. ABD looked LIKE HE WAS TURNING IT ON TODAY. Only to deceive. His cameo was outstanding. But Watson flopped yet again to leave RCB in doldrums. Negi and Jadhav ensuring a fightback. But scoring rate has dropped. Rcb will be extremely lucky to get 170

After 19 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 157/5 ( Kedar Jadhav (W) 27 , Pawan Negi 31)

Bumrah in his final over. Couple of magnificent deliveries to start with. Negi smashes the third ball towards long-on to bring up the 150 on the board! Jadhav miscues the fifth ball, though the ball lands safely beyond the extra-cover fielder’s reach. Excellent yorker to end the over, with 10 coming off it.

Pawan Negi hits a couple of sixes to take RCB beyond the 150-run mark. Malinga has been expensive yet again. Negi and Jadhav will have to take their chances now.

Everytime Bumrah comes in to bowl,  the DJ goes ‘Jaaasprit’ and the Wankhede follows with ’ Buuumrah’. Oh,  there is another variation — the DJ would say ‘Boom Boom’ and the crowd would go ‘Bumrah. It is difficult for anybody to not not be befuddled by all this ’ love’.

After 18 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 147/5 ( Kedar Jadhav (W) 24 , Pawan Negi 24)

Malinga into is final over. SIX! Negi picks the slower ball at the start of the over, and smashes it over wide long-off. Malinga responds with a yorker in the second ball. Jadhav tries a similar short in the third delivery, though there is protection at sweeper cover this time. Negi hits down the ground for his second six of the over, this time coming down the track for the hit, and it is too high for Hardik, who attempts a jump near the boundary.

After 17 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 132/5 ( Kedar Jadhav (W) 23 , Pawan Negi 10)

Bumrah into his third over. Jadhav times his on-drive towards the midwicket boundary perfectly, and beats the fielder in the deep. 10 off the over, with RCB needing a few big hits at this stage now.

Mumbai bowlers have successfully slowed down RCB’s innings. Pawan Negi and Kedar Jadhav are finding it difficult to smash some biggies. 160+ still looks a realistic target, given RCB keep wickets in hand.

After 16 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 122/5 ( Kedar Jadhav (W) 18 , Pawan Negi 6)

McClenaghan back into the attack, and he has been quite the expensive option so far. Both Jadhav and Nego try to go for the big hits in this over, but the defensive field ensures there is enough protection out there to prevent the boundaries. Seven off the over, a much better one for the Kiwi pacer.

Some Mexican wave now.  Seven rounds already. The crowd in the Vijay Merchant pavilionvto the left of where we are sitting are particularly enthusiastic. A wonderful sight.  The sea of blue flags just accentuates the effect

After 15 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 115/5 ( Kedar Jadhav (W) 15 , Pawan Negi 2)

Malinga into his third over. Three dots at the start of the over, before Krunal hurts himself on his abdomen after landing on the ball at backward point. Just four runs off the over, with RCB now lagging behind on the run-rate.

After 14 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 111/5 ( Kedar Jadhav (W) 12 , Pawan Negi 1)

Bumrah back for his second over, and appeals for an lbw straightaway, which is turned down by the umpire. Another appeal right after that, this time for a run-out, and Jadhav is safe at the other end. Bumrah though, manages to castle Watson in the fourth ball of the over, with the Aussie looking to play across the line. Pawan Negi joins Jadhav at the centre, with RCB starting to lose their way out right now.

BOWLED EM! Watson looks to play the length delivery across the line, and ends up missing the line completely, and getting his stumps rattled! RCB 108/5

Watson b Bumrah 3(5)

Krunal Pandya takes his second wicket and points out at his own dugout while celebrating with Bunmrah and Kieron Pollard. Shane Watson enters the fray.

Nemeses of AB de Villiers in IPL:

4 – Piyush Chawla, KRUNAL PANDYA*

3 – Albie Morkel, Lakshmipathy Balaji

After 13 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 106/4 ( Kedar Jadhav (W) 9 , Shane Watson 2)

SIX! De Villiers goes big towards the leg side, getting down on one knee and hammering the first ball over the square-leg boundary! Krunal however, changes his line in the second delivery, with ABD getting a top-edge this time to get caught by Bumrah well behind the keeper. Bumrah signals a four after the wicket, highlighting the fact that he has got ABD’s wicket four times in the league. 10 off the over, along with an important wicket, as the umpire signals for a second timeout. 

Meanwhile, new batsman Shane Watson gets off the mark in this over.

Head, Big Bash centurion simply not finding any success in IPL. His first mistake turns out to be his last. Tentative pull after that huge six. Caught at deep mid-wicket. So typical of RCB’s tryst with luck and lack of confidence this season. But RCB are  in a better position than they were in the past few games. Got past 10 overs losing a mere 3 wickets. 102 for 4 in 12th over. ABD 43 off 27 kept them going.

OUT! Krunal dismisses ABD just one delivery after getting smashed for a six, with the South Africa superstar top-edging it towards the long-stop region, where Bumrah takes a safe catch. RCB 102/4

De Villiers c Bumrah b Krunal 43(27)

After 12 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 96/3 ( AB de Villiers 37 , Kedar Jadhav (W) 7)

Rohit continues with spin from the other end, with Karn bowling his third over. Jadhav comes down the track in the second ball, and hammers it down the ground for his first boundary. Nine off the over, with ABD and Jadhav dealing in singles for the rest of the over.

After 11 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 87/3 ( AB de Villiers 34 , Kedar Jadhav (W) 1)

Krunal bowls his third over. Head smashes him for a boundary in the second delivery, with the ball landing just short of the wide long-on boundary. Tries going big in the next delivery as well, only to find Krunal’s brother Hardik in the deep this time. Seven off the over, with Mumbai succeeding in breaking the building momentum, though their main worry in ABD is still out there.

OUT! Right after hitting a boundary towards cow-corner, Head tried to pull this one a little finer, though he gets caught by Hardik at deep midwicket off Krunal’s bowling. Another instance of the Pandya brothers combining to effect a dismissal. RCB 85/3

Head c Hardik b Krunal 12(15)

After 10 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 80/2 ( Travis Head 8 , AB de Villiers 32)

Karn into his second over. Keeps it tight in this over, giving away just four singles off it. Mumbai will be cautious of de Villiers, who is looking increasingly dangerous, and could launch out of the orbit anytime soon now. RCB steady at the halfway mark in their innings.

ABD & Travis Head look like breaking out of the hoodoo. ABD batting aggressively, hitting his way to some sort of form. Two superb sixes already. Head playing himself in.

After 9 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 76/2 ( Travis Head 6 , AB de Villiers 30)

Krunal into his second over. FOUR! De Villiers doesn’t quite get the room for a cut, but still manages to despatch it towards the point boundary. SIX! ABD gives himself enough room, and smashes the fourth ball of the over towards the midwicket boundary for his second six. 13 off the over.

Kohli’s miserable run– by his lofty standards — continues. Worse he’s finding new ways to get out. Must be demoralising for the world’s best batsman to struggle thus. ‘When will my luck change’, he must be wondering. What a humbling experience!

The kids at the Wankhede stadium love it when the announcer calls out ‘Aala re aala, Malinga aala’. He has been a crowd favourite since forever.

After 8 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 63/2 ( Travis Head 5 , AB de Villiers 19)

Malinga back for his second over. FOUR! AB de Villiers gets down on one knee and drives a full-toss in the fourth delivery towards the cover boundary to get his second boundary. Seven off the over.

After Virat’s departure, the onus will be on AB De Villiers to take the innings from here. Travis Head, on the other hand, has a chance to prove his worth following a decent BBL a season. RCB are 56/2 after 7 overs.

The Wankhede is a sea of blue as Kohli departs. Huge wicket for MI.  Chants of ABD ABD even before the South African dasher came out. Somebody in the crowd said,  ’ ABCD ABCD’.  ‘ABCDE’ added another.  Perhaps true that nomenclature, as you would expect De Villiers to be well versed with all alphabets of batting. ABD shows his mettle with a huge six over cover point.  Meanwhile the Wankhede is swaying to ‘Laila O Laila’.

After 7 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 56/2 ( Travis Head 4 , AB de Villiers 14)

Krunal into the attack in the first over after powerplay. As many as six bowlers have been introduced so far. Head drives the first ball of the over down the ground, beating Krunal’s dive to get a single. Four singles off the over, with the umpire signalling for the timeout at the end of the over.

Nemeses of Virat Kohli in IPL:

6 – Ashish Nehra 

4 – Sandeep Sharma, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mitchell McClenaghan*

After 6 overs,Royal Challengers Bangalore 52/2 ( Travis Head 2 , AB de Villiers 12)

Kohli departs first ball, pushing a slower ball towards the leg side, and getting caught by Rohit at midwicket. AB de Villiers walks out, and gets off the mark with a slash over backward point for a boundary, before smashing the six over deep point in the next ball. 12 runs and a wicket in the final over of powerplay. RCB off to a mixed start in their innings.

McClenaghan gets the big wicket early in the innings! And it is a soft dismissal for Kohli, as he pushes a slower ball straight to Rohit at midwicket! RCB 40/2

Kohli c Rohit b McClenaghan 20(14)

Mandeep departs early, sweeping Karn towards the midwicket boundary, only to find the fielder in the deep! RCB 31/1

Mandeep c Hardik b Karn  17(13)

Apologies for the delay at our end. We were facing network issues, due to which we couldn’t provide you updates for the game so far. 

Mandeep and Kohli got RCB off to a decent start, before the former was dismissed by Karn Sharma in the fourth over, sweeping straight to Hardik Pandya at deep midwicket. Kohli smashes a couple of sixes at the other end, and looks set for a big score, before getting dismissed softly by pushing an off-cutter from McClenaghan in the final over of powerplay.

A loud cheer for last match’s hero Jasprit Bumrah as he’s brought into the attack to bowl the fifth over. Virat Kohli will have to make sure that RCB score at least 160+ at Wankhede.

The Wankede is reverberating with chants of ‘RCB RCB’ as Kohli sends Bumrah over the boundary. Some really good support for the visiting team.  Lots of people, even foreigners  in red jerseys.

The players are out at the start of the match, with Kohli walking out to bat with Mandeep. McClenaghan bowls the first over of the innings.

Head to Head in IPL:

Matches – 20

Mumbai Indians won – 12

Royal Challengers Bangalore won – 8 

Mandeep Singh’s strike rate of 90.12 in IPL before today is the lowest among all the batsmen who have faced atleast 50 balls in this IPL. Is it a good move to include Mandeep Singh again?

Virat Kohli’s average of 85.67 at Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai in IPL is the best among all the players who have played atleast five innings at the venue in IPL. Virat Kohli has scored 257 runs from six innings at a strike rate of 141.99 at the venue in IPL.

Spare a thought for skipper Virat Kohli. He wears his pride and heart on his sleeve and RCB’s recent performance, or the lack of it, would have hit him hard. He is not in the best of batting form, but that innings of 55 in the previous match would have helped him get his confidence back. Kohli is a fierce competitor and Mumbai would be stretched if he gets going. A bit of luck, lots of strokeplay and aggressive running between the wickets is just formula for him to turn things around.

MI XI: Parthiv Patel, Jos Buttler, Nitish Rana, Rohit Sharma (c), Karn Sharma, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Mitchell McClenaghan, Lasith Malinga, Jasprit Bumrah.

RCB XI: Travis Head, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Kedar Jadhav, Mandeep Singh, Shane Watson, Pawan Negi, Adam Milne, Aniket Choudhary, Sreenath Aravind, Yuzvendra Chahal.

MI opt to replace Harbhajan Singh, who hasn’t cleared the fitness test today, with Karn Sharma. 

RCB name three changes: Mandeep Singh replaces Sachin Baby, Shane Watson in place of Samuel Badree and Aniket Choudhary in place of Stuart Binny.

Another important aspect of this match for some of the RCB players, Yuzi Chahal, Pawan Negi and may be Kedar Jadhav would be to impress the national selectors in the hope of a berth in the national team for the Champions Trophy. Mumbai are tough, reputed opponents and a good performance against them will carry a lot of weight for these three cricketers.

No-Hopers RCB will be dangerous opponents from here on. Their players have nothing to lose, but plenty to gain by impressing the IPL franchises. Good performances could get them a good contract next year. So expect the players to go all out. The win or loss will not count for the team’s standing but any of their wins will hit the opposition hard in the points table. The other teams are jostling for the top two spots, failing which, the next two spots, to make the next phase.

May be this is the right time for RCB players to express themselves. The lack of pressure could be the right impetus for their batsmen to at last play freely and boldly. Woe be any bowler if the likes of Gayle, Kohli and ADB run amuck.

TOSS! RCB have won the toss and elected to bat first

Hello and welcome to the Live coverage of IPL 2017 match between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede stadium. RCB’s challenge in this year’s edition ended in Pune as they fell to a disappointing defeat against RPS. Kohli and Co would be keen to prove a point or two before the season ends. Mumbai Indians on the other hand recorded a thrilling win in the Super Over against Gujarat Lions and would like to get another win under their belts as they close in on the play-off spots. It promises to be a cracking encounter, so stick around for the Live scores, updates and reactions from the game