Rayudu, Pollard seal dramatic win

An incredible unbroken partnership of 122 between Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard saw the Mumbai Indians come back from the dead to clinch a five-wicket victory.

An incredible unbroken partnership of 122 between Ambati Rayudu and Kieron Pollard saw the Mumbai Indians come back from the dead to clinch a five-wicket victory over the Royal Challengers Bangalore on Monday.

At 55 for five in the ninth over, chasing a challenging 172 for victory, Mumbai looked buried in a sea of green as Bangalore celebrated their 'Game for Green' at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

But Rayudu and Pollard found the boundary on 18 occasions to haul the Indians back into the match and leave a packed stadium stunned, with both men finishing with unbeaten half-centuries.

Bangalore's bid to rise above the Indians in the 2012 Indian Premier League standings had received a major boost thanks to Mayank Agarwal's blitz.

Rain delayed the start of play by 50 minutes and left the pitch a touch sluggish and the outfield heavy, but Agarwal rose above the circumstances to strike his highest Twenty20 score.

The Indian Under-19 graduate struck 64 not out from a mere 30 balls to carry the home side to a formidable total of 171 for four in tough batting conditions.

The talented right-hander's cameo proved all the more important after the in-form Chris Gayle endured a rare failure in falling for eight and Virat Kohli was run out for just three.

Mumbai seamer Munaf Patel endured a terrible day with the ball, fetching this season's second most expensive figures. His four overs traveled for all of 54 runs, as Bangalore rallied from a shaky first half of their innings to post 171 for six.

The Mumbai reply started horribly, with Sachin Tendulkar out first ball and Herschelle Gibbs run out in the second over.

With Rohit Sharma caught and bowled by an ecstatic Vinay Kumar, the Indians were in serious trouble and things only got worse when Dinesh Karthik and Dwayne Smith failed to make decent contributions.

But Pollard sparked the revival by clubbing a couple of big sixes off KP Appanna, and Rayudu warmed to the task and went on to play the lead role.

The Indian batsman's 81 from 54 balls set the match up for Pollard, who was left needing 13 runs from five balls off his West Indian teammate Gayle.

Pollard only needed three of those deliveries, hoisting two boundaries to midwicket and enjoying a lucky slice to third man as he finished 52 not out in a famous win.