RCB wisely made a few team changes as they were determined to start winning matches as it was high time. Sent into batting first by the Mumbai Indians, Devdutt Padikkal and Aaron Finch gave RCB a flying start, with both making fifties. Then it was AB De Villiers who propelled the run rate and helped the total reach 201. For MI only Boult and Chahar gave away less than 10 runs per over. Rest of all were smacked for runs. Padikkal and AB De Villiers were consistent and Finch played well in this match. Virat Kohli again out for low score. Yet it seemed to be a winning total.
As Mi walked in to chase this total, a quick tumble of wickets was on show. The only dominant batsman throughout the innings of MI was Ishan Kishan. Pollard in the later part made 60 runs. Earlier Rohit Sharma, Surya Kumar Yadav and Hardik Pandya all failed to even make respectable scores. At one stage MI needed 90 runs off 30 balls. Pollard should have started his attacking batting a little earlier than he did. Ishan Kishan lead the onslaught very strongly till he got out at 99, trying to finish of the match with one more 6. This was the most disappointing moment for Ishan Kishan. The score was tied at 201.
Enter, The Super Over. A flurry of mistakes by the captain. Instead of leading the challenge himself, Rohit Sharma sends a tired Pollard and an out of form Hardik Pandya to play the Super Over- a big mistake! Navdeep Saini of RCB lived up to the expectations and bowled an accurate length ball giving no space to the batsman to hit. Hardik Pandya out. Rohit Sharma comes but could not face a ball and not 0. Total runs scored was a petty 7. This was a result of captaincy blunder. It is very difficult for Bumrah to defend 7 runs. It is not even fair. Though AB De Villiers was quick to lose his wicket, Virat Kohli hitting the 4th ball for a boundary when 2 runs were needed 0ff 2 balls was the end of MI. Ishan Kishan looked inconsolable in the background.
Even though Virat Kohli was in a bad form, as a leader of the side he came and scored the winning runs, this is the kind of confidence a captain should show. This was the turning point – a turn towards the win for RCB!
