Share

Challengers vanquish Mumbai

A sublime all-round performance pushed the Royal Challengers Bangalore to poll position in the Indian Premier League (IPL) when they beat the Mumbai Indians by seven wickets in Mumbai on Saturday.

The Royal Challengers made easy pickings of Mumbai’s 151/9 after Jacques Kallis and Manish Pandey put on a splendid 85 runs in 59 balls for the first wicket.

Kallis continued his magnificent form, displaying a flawless mixture of brain and brawn as he pulverized the hapless Mumbai Indian bowling attack to all parts of the Brabourne Stadium.

Pandey was hardly pedestrian himself, scoring a fluent 40 runs off 27 balls, before he pulled a short delivery from Harbajan Singh to Kieron Pollard at mid-wicket.

Robin Uthappa followed with a brisk 23 off 15 balls and Virat Kohli simmered with a quick 17 off 11 balls, pushing the Royal Challengers to 136/3 after 17 overs and victory almost a certainty.

The Royal Challengers crossed the line with five balls to spare and seven wickets in hand.

It was once again Kallis who assumed the sheet anchor role for the Royal Challengers.

Kallis ended undefeated on 66 off 55 balls and leads the IPL batting stats with 264 runs in this year’s competition.

Earlier, in a game that was touted to be a possible run-fest between two excellent sides, turned out to be quite a challenge between bat and ball as the Royal Challengers ran through the Mumbai batting order to restrict them to 151/9.

After winning the toss, the Indians got off to a poor start when Sanath Jayasuriya was out lbw to Dale Steyn in the second over.

Steyn started his bowling spell with imposing venom, finding pace and swing from his opening delivery, as the Challengers sought to push the Indians on the back foot.

But it took an inspired bowling performance from Vinay Kumar who ran through the Mumbai Indians’ middle order with disdain.

Kumar took three wickets, including the prized scalps of a fluent Sachin Tendulkar (25 runs off 22 balls) and Dwayne Bravo (one run off two balls) in an inspiring over that turned the Indians’ innings on its head.

Kumar finished with 3/25 in his four-over spell.

Proteas all-rounder Kallis snapped up Aditya Tare for nine with a rising delivery and an enterprising partnership between Saurabh Tiwary and Tendulkar ended when Anil Kumble bowled Saurabh Tiwary for 25 .

A patient seventh-wicket partnership of 47 between Kieron Pollard and Rajagopal Satish saved the Indian innings that had been reduced to 76/6, as the pair inched their team towards a competitive total.

A superb cameo from Zaahir Khan (25 off nine balls) pushed the Indians total past the psychological 150 mark.

Veteran spinner Anil Kumble ended with 1/18 while Kallis finished off with figures of 1/35 in his four-over spell.

Teams:

Mumbai Indians: ST Jayasuriya, SR Tendulkar (capt), AP Tare (wk), SS Tiwary, AT Rayudu, DJ Bravo, KA Pollard, R Sathish, Harbhajan Singh, Z Khan, SL Malinga

Royal Challengers Bangalore: JH Kallis, MK Pandey, RV Uthappa, V Kohli, R Dravid, EJG Morgan, MV Boucher (wk), P Kumar, A Kumble (capt), DW Steyn, R Vinay Kumar
We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
How much would you be prepared to pay for a ticket to watch the Springboks play against the All Blacks at Ellis Park or Cape Town Stadium this year?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
R0 - R200
33% - 1816 votes
R200 - R500
32% - 1774 votes
R500 - R800
19% - 1083 votes
R800 - R1500
8% - 459 votes
R1500 - R2500
3% - 186 votes
I'd pay anything! It's the Boks v All Blacks!
5% - 253 votes
Vote
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE