Bumrah delivers a lethal spell, but Karthik takes RCB to 196
The pace ace proves unplayable and takes wickets with amazing regularity to finish figures of 40215; the veteran ’keeper smashes a 23ball unbeaten 53 to consolidate the good work done by skipper du Plessis and Patidar at the top of the order
hree superb fifties. Seven singledigit scores. One fivewicket haul. At the end of it all, Royal Challengers Bengaluru piled up 196 for eight in its IPL clash against Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.
Such was the exploits of the four players — the freestroking Faf du Plessis, the dashing Rajat Patidar, the dynamic Dinesh Karthik and the brilliant Jasprit Bumrah — it produced a weird T20 scorecard.
Had it not been for Bumrah’s exceptional spell (40215) — his second fivewicket haul in the IPL — Mumbai Indians could well have been chasing a bigger target. The pace ace took just three deliveries to see the back of Virat Kohli as the Orange Capholder insideedged an inswinger and wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan lunged down the legside to pouch it.
In the death overs, Bumrah struck off successive balls in consecutive overs. He got rid of du Plessis and followed it up with a toecrusher that caught Mahipal Lomror plumb in front. Bumrah removed Saurav Chauhan and V. Vyshak in the next over.
Du Plessis and Patidar came good with breezy fifties. The latter, in particular, swung the momentum Royal Challengers’ way in
Tthe middle overs to set the platform for Karthik. The two sixes — a wristy flick and a fierce pull off the next ball — off Gerald Coetzee were a treat to watch and also brought up his fifty. The South African had the last laugh when Patidar topedged a simple catch to Kishan. Karthik took centrestage, toying with pacer Akash Madhwal. Four fours, including three ramp shots over the ’keeper, in the 16th over whet the appetite before he smashed 18 runs in the final over of the innings to take the Bengaluru side close to 200. The shot of
ROYAL CHALLENGERS
Virat Kohli c Kishan b Bumrah 3
(9b), Faf du Plessis c David b Bumrah 61 (40b, 4x4, 3x6), Will Jacks c David b Madhwal 8 (6b, 2x4), Rajat Patidar c Ishan b Coetzee 50 (26b, 3x4, 4x6), Glenn Maxwell lbw b Shreyas Gopal 0
(4b), Dinesh Karthik (not out) 53
(23b, 5x4, 4x6), Mahipal Lomror lbw b Bumrah 0 (1b), Saurav Chauhan (Impact Player in place of Patidar) c Madhwal b Bumrah 9 (8b, 1x4), V. Vyshak c Nabi b Bumrah 0 (1b), Akash Deep (not out) 2 (2b); Extras (b-1, lb-1, w-8): 10; Total (for eight wkts. in 20 overs): 196.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-14 (Kohli, 2.3 overs), 2-23 (Jacks, 3.4), 3-105 (Patidar, 11.3), 4-108 (Maxwell, 12.2), 5-153 (du Plessis, 16.4), 6-153 (Lomror, 16.5), 7-170 (Chauhan, 18.3), 8-170 (Vyshak, 18.4).
MUMBAI INDIANS BOWLING
Nabi 1-0-7-0, Coetzee 4-0-42-1, Bumrah 4-0-21-5, Madhwal 4-0-57-1, Shreyas Gopal 4-0-32-1, Shepherd 2-0-22-0, Hardik 1-0-13-0.
Toss: Mumbai Indians.
MI 169 for two
MI was 169 for two in 13 overs with Suryakumar (52) and Hardik (7) at the crease. Kishan (69) and Rohit (38) were the batters dismissed. the day was Karthik’s hook off Madhwal that sailed into the stands over deepsquare leg in the 20th over, the veteran ’keeper hammering 33 off the 10 balls he faced against Madhwal.
It has been a satisfying campaign so far for Lucknow Super Giants with three wins from four outings.
However, as it gears up for the home IPL fixture at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Stadium on Friday — against a struggling Delhi Capitals — LSG will be wary of complacency.
A swollen hip has forced young pacer Mayank Yadav, who bowls thunderbolts in excess of 150 kmph, to sit out, whereas the LSG management is yet to decide on the availability of the other pacer Mohsin Khan.
However, it still has enough firepower. Coming on the back of a fivewicket haul against Gujarat Titans, rookie pacer Yash Thakur will be hoping to keep the momentum going against Delhi Capitals, which is placed at the bottom of the table with just a solitary win.
Delhi Capitals coach Ricky Ponting is hopeful that both Kuldeep Yadav and Mukesh Kumar could return to action against LSG, and it would be interesting to see how they fare against the strong opening pair of Quinton de Kock and KL Rahul.
While Rahul is yet to convert his starts into something meaningful, de Kock has proved a point with two fifties.
With some aggressive knocks, Nicholas Pooran took care of the middleorder, even though Devdutt Padikkal stuttered.
The Capitals, meanwhile, have struggled in every department. While bowling at the death has been an area of concern, none of its batters — barring skipper Rishabh Pant and Tristan Stubb — has been able to show consistency.