Mumbai hold their fortress in tense match

The Mumbai Indians continued their run of wins at the Wankhede, stretching back to 2012 and nine games, as they beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore in tense circumstances on Tuesday.
The Mumbai Indians continued their run of wins at the Wankhede, stretching back to 2012 and nine games, as they beat the Royal Challengers Bangalore in tense circumstances on Tuesday.
The match was marred by ugly scenes between Kieron Pollard and various RCB players, most notably Mitchell Starc, but also oddly with fellow West Indian Chris Gayle. In the end, the hosts prevailed, winning by 19 runs.
Mumbai batted after being put in by Virat Kohli, with the Bangalore skipper always preferring to chase. The defending champions, who had not won a single game in the UAE leg, wen ton to post 187 for five. RCB's chase ended on 168 for eight.
Mumbai's best batting efforts came from Pollard and Rohit Sharma, who joined forces to take the score from 84 for four to 181 for five, before Pollard was run out, amusingly by Starc. But before that, the pair had to be calmed by umpires and skippers after Pollard threw his bat.
It didn't go anywhere near the bowler but was still an unpleasant sight, and followed on from 'banter', backing away and bouncers. The thing that triggered the final straw, in the 18th over, was that Pollard cheekily walked away as Starc ran in, but the paceman bowled it anyway, following Pollard to the leg side.
As it was, Pollard and Rohit rescued the knock after the loss of early wickets, with Rohit ending on 59 not out and Pollard on 43 before departing in the final over.
RCB got off to a cracking start, with Gayle and PArtiv Patel putting on 53 runs in the first five overs. But then spinner Harbhajan Singh arrived to derail that, removing both openers, clean bowled four overs apart.
Otherwise, only Kohli and Rilee Rossouw made double figures, adding 35 and 24 respectively, as the Mumbai bowlers did the job admirably. AB de Villiers was not able to replicate his innings from earlier in the week, and was out for nine.
Adding insult to Starc's injury was that he was caught out by Pollard for five, while the Windies all-rounder also ran Yuvraj Singh out.
Mumbai now have two wins in seven, and sit on four points with three other sides that make up the bottom half of the table. RCB have six points and are hanging onto fourth place thanks to a good start in the UAE.
Latest
-
News
Darren Stevens ‘looking forward to the ‘next chapter’ as his Kent innings ends
The all-rounder will leave Kent after 17 years at the end of the season.
-
News
Darren Stevens announces his retirement at the age of 46
The all-rounder’s 17-year stint at Kent will end later this year.
-
The Hundred
Hundred history-maker Will Smeed: ‘I very much still want to play everything’
The rising star of the white-ball game could be on England’s radar.
-
The Hundred
Lauren Winfield-Hill stars as Oval Invincibles begin title defence with big win
The home side defeated the Northern Superchargers by nine wickets.
-
News
Sam Curran the main man as Oval Invincibles beat Northern Superchargers
Curran scored 60 in his side’s three-wicket win at the Kia Oval.
-
England
England opener Alex Lees keen to see aggressive approach adopted in county game
The Durham batter has used the break in Test cricket to spread the word.
-
The Hundred
‘It was awesome’ – Will Smeed ends his 90s curse to hit Hundred’s first century
The youngster had fallen short of a maiden century on multiple occasions during the first half of 2022.
-
The Hundred
Will Smeed becomes first batter to hit ton in Hundred during Birmingham win
The opener cracked an unbeaten 101 off 50 balls.
-
England
Women’s game on upward trend and schools an important target – Anya Shrubsole
The 30-year-old pace bowler was restricted to competing against boys during childhood.