Although KL Rahul (68 off 53) scored a half century, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) was unable to defend their total against Mumbai Indians (MI) at their home in M Chinnaswamy stadium, Bangalore.
After much debated pick of the destructive batsman Chris Gayle to cement the batting line-up, Kohli’s boys managed to score only 151 for the loss of 4 wickets due to the collapse of their top order. Sachin Baby, who played a helping knock in the previous match as well, scored 25 off 13 deliveries at the last of the innings.
Chasing the target, MI easily cored 153 for 4 in just 18.4 overs with the help of Ambati Rayudu scoring 44 off 47 balls and Kieron Pollard’s not out innings of 35 in 19 deliveries. With the win Mumbai has reached fourth spot in the points table with 12 points from 10 games and have cemented their position for the ending phase of the tournament.
Previously, RCB batting first, lost their star consistent performer Virat Kohli just for 7 off the M McClenaghan bowling and the debacle began for the team. After the skipper, the aggressive batsman Chris Gayle could not pull a big score and handed an easy catch to the MI skipper Rohit Sharma on a length delivery by Tim Southee.
To save the team from the danger, heroes of the previous match AB de Villiers and KL Rahul made a partnership of 43-runs for the 4th wicket before the South African caught and bowled to the experienced spinner Harbhajan Singh. KL Rahul completed his half century after that while Shane Watson got run out.. Sachin baby, stood with KL Rahul and both smashed few outstanding maximums on the MI bowling and scored a 53-runs stand for the 5th wicket to add more in the RCB total.
RCB’s challenge in the tournament, now, has almost ended. They will have to win all of their remaining matches with a huge margin to keep their hopes on for the playoffs. Skipper Kohli said he will take that challenge and will try to win all the matches in future at the end of the match.
Scorecard
Royal Challengers Bangalore Innings
| Details | Scores |
| V Kohli (c) c H Singh b M McClenaghan | 7 (7b, 1x6. SR 100.00) |
| C Gayle c R Sharma b T Southee | 5 (6b, 1x4, SR 83.33) |
| AB de Villiers c A Rayudu b K Pandya | 24 (27b, 1x4, 1x6, SR 89.88) |
| KL Rahul (wk) not out | 68 (53b, 3x4, 4x6, SR 128.30) |
| S Watson run out (R Sharma) | 15 (14b, 1x4,1x6, SR 107.14) |
| S Baby not out | 25 (13b, 2x4, 2x6, SR 192.31) |
| Extras (lb5, w2) | 7 |
| Total (4 Wickets, 20 Overs) | 151 (RR 7.55 runs per over) |
Mumbai Indians Innings
| Details | Scores |
| R Sharma (c) c AB de Villiers b V Aaron | 25 (24b, 3x4, SR 104.17) |
| P Patel (wk) c Watson b S Aravind | 1 (2b, SR 50.00) |
| A Rayudu c AB de Villiers b V Aaron | 44 (47b, 2x4, 2x6, SR 93.62) |
| N Rana c S Binny b Y Chahal | 9 (11b, 1x6, SR 81.82) |
| K Pollard not out | 35 (19b, 3x4, 2x6. SR 184.21) |
| J Butler not out | 29 (11b, 1x4, 3x6, SR 263.64) |
| Extras (w8, nb2) | 10 |
| Total (4 Wickets, 18.4 Overs) | 153 (RR 8.31 runs per over) |
IPL 2016 Points Table (Updated till RCBvsMI match)
| Teams | Matches | Won | Lost | Tied | NR | Points | NRR |
| SRH | 10 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 14 | +0.558 |
| GL | 11 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | -0.138 |
| KKR | 10 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | +0.206 |
| MI | 11 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 12 | -0.346 |
| DD | 9 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | +0.309 |
| RCB | 10 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 8 | -0.041 |
| RPS | 11 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 6 | +0.087 |
| KXIP | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 6 | -0.567 |
By Prajakt K.
