Rohit, Pollard star in Mumbai Indians comprehensive win

Mumbai, May 7 (IANS) Riding on fine batting performances by skipper Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard, defending champions Mumbai Indians registered their second win in the India Premier League (IPL) beating Royal Challengers Bangalore by 19 runs at the Wankhede Stadium here Tuesday.

Put in, Rohit struck an unbeaten 59 off 35 balls, and Pollard made a 31-ball 43 as Mumbai Indians posted a mammoth 187 for five in 20 overs.

It was a dismal batting performance by the Royal Challengers as they had to pay a heavy price for inconsistency.

Barring Chris Gayle (38), Parthiv Patel (26) and Virat Kohli ( 35) none of other batsmen could put up a semblance of fight and they managed 168 for eight in 20 overs .

In fact Royal Challengers batsmen had to blame themselves for the loss as the trio of Gayle, Patel and Kohli, who was playing his 100th IPL match, gifted away their wickets after having done all the hardwork.

Gayle and Patel gave Royal Challengers a good start with their 53-run partnership for the first wicket but then Royal Challengers squandered the impressive start .

Gayle struck three fours and three sixes in his 24-ball knock while Patel hit five fours during his 19-ball stay.

Veteran off-spinner Harbhajan Singh (2/33)A did well to remove the openers while pacers Lasith Malinga ( 2/29) and Jaspreet Bumrah (2/22) did well in the death overs.

Kohli showed glimpses of his brilliance with a quickfire 35 off 28 balls hitting two fours and two sixes but after he departed in the 14th over the innings fell apart.

Yuvraj Singh, the most expensive buy in this year’s IPL,A managed six from 10 while Rile Rossouw came up with a cameo ofA 24 off 14 balls.

Earlier in the day, Chidhambharam Gautam gave Mumbai Indians a stable start with 30 off 28 balls. After the early departure of opener Ben Dunk (15), Gautam was involved in a crucial 46-run stand with Ambati Rayudu (9) for the second wicket.

And just when it looked that Mumbai Indians had the proceedings in control, they suffered a mini batting collapse losing three wickets for 13 runs. From a comfortable 71/1 they were left struggling at 84/4.

It was then Rohit, who played a captain’s knock , and Pollard took Mumbai Indians to a position of strength with their 97-run stand for the fifth-wicket in just 60 deliveries.

Rohit was the aggressive of the two as he spanked four sixes and three fours while Pollard relied more on fours hitting six in 31 balls.

What also helped the Mumbai Indians was the indisciplined bowling performance by Royal Challengers, who conceded 25 extras including 12 wides.

The match also witnessed a heated exchange between Pollard and fast bowler Mitchell Starc during the Mumbai Indians innings.

Pollard had pulled out while Starc was still in his bowling run up in the 17th over. Starc, however,A continued his bowling and fired it towards the West Indian. Pollard also flung his bat towards the bowler and it needed the intervention of the umpires to cool down the things.