Suryakumar Yadav made a brilliant 83 off 35 balls to spearhead Mumbai Indians’ six-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhede in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Rohit Sharma failed yet again as Mumbai Indians chased 200, but Ishan Kishan (42 off 21 balls) and Nehal Wadhera (52 not out off 35) combined well with Surya to complete the triumph with 21 balls remaining.
RCB looked clueless once Surya came in to bat at No.3. He brought up his half-century off 26 balls after he had launched Mohammed Siraj for a six over long-on.
Surya loves the area behind the wicket, and after Josh Hazlewood bowled four cutters for just a single in the 12th over, Surya finished it with an uppercut to the fine third boundary and a shuffling swipe to the fine leg boundary. Such was his authority and control that RCB players just watched the mayhem in awe.
Wadhera hit the winning runs, a six off Harshal Patel over the cover boundary. This was Mumbai Indians’ third successful 200-plus chase in four matches and they are storming into form at the right time.
Earlier, a 120-run partnership off 62 balls between Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell powered RCB to 199 for six.
While Faf contributed 65 off 41 balls, Maxwell was the more aggressive one, scoring 68 off 33 balls. Faf and Maxwell have put on four century stands this season. A reverse-scoop for six from Maxwell off Chris Jordan helped the pair reach the landmark.
They are closing in on the IPL record for most century stands in a season — five by AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli in 2016, while David Warner and Jonny Bairstow had four in 2019.
Faf and Maxwell never allowed Kohli’s early dismissal to affect the team. The Australian hit two sixes off Chris Jordan in the seventh over and a clean, straight hit over long-on off Piyush Chawla in the eighth.
Maxwell was in his element as he played some outstanding strokes, hitting four sixes and eight fours to record his fourth half-century this season. Faf, who was dropped by Wadhera in the first over, was equally impressive with his strokeplay, attacking fast bowlers and spinners alike to get to his sixth half-century.
Faf also extended his lead at the top of the list for the highest run-getters this year, reaching 576 runs in 11 matches at an average of 64.
Mumbai Indians, however, fought back in the middle overs taking three wickets in a space of 10 runs.
Dinesh Karthik (30 off 18), however, produced a cameo in the closing overs to provide the momentum. Karthik loved the pace of the wicket as he middled the ball quite well.
