Maxwell’s Big Show leads RCB
All-round show from Royal Challengers consolidates their position in the playoff slots with convincing win over Mumbai
MUMBAI: Given how he lives every moment on a cricket field as if it were his last, Virat Kohli walked out with great intent against Mumbai Indians (MI) on Sunday. It might be because Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) were coming off two defeats to start the UAE leg of this IPL season, or because it was a battle between the soon-to-be former India T20 captain and soon-to-be likely India T20 captain. Or, maybe because Rohit Sharma threw down the gauntlet pretty early.
Bowling first on a fresh track in Dubai, the MI skipper threw the new ball to Jasprit Bumrah instead of Adam Milne to break RCB’s back at the get-go. Kohli looked eager to return the favour. So in the fourth over—a ball after he moved across and swung at a short one for an edgy four—Kohli held his balance, swivelled with the rising ball that met the middle of the bat and pulled Bumrah for a maximum.
It was vintage Kohli. It was vintage Glenn Maxwell, with the bat and an added two-wicket bonus. It was vintage Harshal Patel; his clever change of pace resulting in a hat-trick that saw the back of Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard and Rahul Chahar. With that, RCB defended their 165/6 with ease, thrashing the foundering defending champions by 54 runs to get their campaign up and running again.
Just like Kohli, Rohit too was quick off the blocks in the chase, smacking Kyle Jamieson for a hat-trick of fours in the third over. Quinton de Kock punished Dan Christian as the MI openers piled on 56 off six overs. But just like spin pegged back RCB, it derailed MI. Yuzvendra Chahal struck after the powerplay, de Kock holing out at deep midwicket before Ishan Kishan struck Sharma.
Kishan’s powerful hit off Maxwell crashed into his captain’s left wrist at the non-striker’s end. The next ball after being attended to, Sharma was caught at long-on going for the same shot that he had deposited in the stands in Maxwell’s previous over. Rohit’s 28-ball 43 ended at the halfway stage, and what followed was MI’s Achilles’ heel this season: a middle-order implosion. Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav fell to poor shots while Krunal Pandya was castled by Maxwell. With 61 needed off the final four overs, Patel got Hardik—in action for the first time in the UAE this season— caught at cover, Pollard bowled and Chahar trapped in front, off slower balls. MI were bowled out for 111, Kohli sprinting and grinning.
And to think Kohli’s evening, at least with the bat, could have ended two balls into the contest. He flicked a full, inswinging delivery from Trent Boult in the air towards deep backward square leg, where Rahul Chahar got both his hands only for the height on the ball to take it over the ropes. Bumrah delivered the early breakthrough from the other end with one that nipped away to get Devdutt Padikkal.
Kohli brought out that pull off Bumrah to complete 10,000 runs in T20 cricket, the fifth player in the world and the first Indian to do so. His feet and bottom hand were on song; he danced down the track to cream a four through covers and smoked a delivery on off-stump over mid-on for six off Milne.
At the end of powerplay, RCB were 48/1, with Kohli 31 off 20. In his next 22 balls, however, he crawled to 20. Save a couple of sweeps from No. 3 Srikar Bharat that went all the way, the MI spin duo of Krunal and Chahar drilled the speed-breakers. Leggie Chahar could have had Kohli in the ninth over had Hardik not spilled a chance at point. A couple of balls later, the leggie got Bharat, bringing in Maxwell, who inflicted most damage mimicking a left-hander.
Maxwell targetted the shorter side of the ground and began dishing out the reverse hit almost at will: against Krunal, Chahar and even Milne with those ramps and scoops past short third man. For each of those outrageous boundaries, the Aussie’s feet shuffled but not his grip on the bat. Maxwell was the injector-in-chief in his fifty partnership with Kohli, who topedged a Milne slower short ball after his half-century. The Aussie brought up his 50 off 33 balls, providing the finishing touch to the Kohli-Maxi show. Brief scores: Royal Challengers Bangalore 165/6 in 20 overs (G Maxwell 56, V Kohli 51; J Bumrah 3/36) beat Mumbai Indians 111 all out (R Sharma 43; H Patel 4/17, Y Chahal 3/11) by 54 runs.