An evening that began with a bomb scare and kept the host association and security personnel on tenterhooks, ebbed away in a forgettable fashion for Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Mumbai Indians proved to be an unstoppable force and coasted to a 57-run victory in the DLF Indian Premier League match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Saturday. Having posted 191 for four, Mumbai Indians restricted Royal Challengers to 134 for nine in 20 overs.
The victory helped Mumbai Indians move its points tally to 20 from 13 games while Royal Challengers finished the league phase with 14 points but kept its chance of a semifinal spot alive by virtue of having gone beyond the 95-mark to ensure a better net run-rate of +0.219.
A healthy start proved elusive for the Royal Challengers though Jacques Kallis struck a defiant six off Zaheer Khan. Kallis fell on the move against Ryan McLaren while Manish Pandey failed to get past Zaheer. Rahul Dravid was all edges before he failed to clear the in-field against Harbhajan Singh, who soon got into a tussle for dominance against Kevin Pietersen.
Pietersen whistled a six and a four with his usual flourish against Harbhajan, who bowled from around the wicket. Harbhajan quickly reverted to over the wicket and had his man as Pietersen holed out.
Woes aggravated
The host's woes aggravated as Robin Uthappa perished cheaply to Kieron Pollard and with an asking rate that mounted beyond 15, Ross Taylor, Virat Kohli and the rest were saddled with an onerous task while Tendulkar's men tightened the final knot.
Earlier, runs came at a steady trot for Mumbai Indians after Anil Kumble opted to field. Sachin Tendulkar carved Vinay Kumar past the ropes but the maestro was not at his best and found a tumbling Taylor while trying to whip Kallis. At the other end, Tendulkar's opening partner McLaren (40) enjoyed a charmed existence as butter-fingered fielders grassed him on 12 (Dravid) and 24 (Dale Steyn). The scoreboard though rattled along as Ambati Rayudu (46, 27b, 3x4, 4x6) took a liking to Pankaj Singh and heaved the seamer for two mighty sixes.
The scores:
Mumbai Indians: R. McLaren lbw b Pietersen 40 (42b, 4x4), S. Tendulkar c Taylor b Kallis 19 (18b, 3x4), A. Rayudu c & b Kallis 46 (27b, 3x4, 4x6), K. Pollard lbw b Kumble 20 (7b, 3x6), J.P. Duminy (not out) 42 (19b, 3x4, 3x6), A. Nayar (not out) 9 (7b, 1x4); Extras (lb-4, w-11): 15. Total (for four wkts, in 20 overs): 191.
Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-103, 3-138, 4-142.
Royal Challengers Bangalore bowling: Steyn 4-0-18-0, Vinay 3-0-26-0, Kallis 4-0-41-2, Pankaj 4-0-54-0, Kumble 4-0-38-1, Pietersen 1-0-10-1.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: M. Pandey c Zaheer b Fernando 16 (18b, 2x4), J. Kallis b McLaren 14 (15b, 1x6), K. Pietersen c Tiwary b Harbhajan 21 (16b, 1x4, 1x6), R. Dravid c Pollard b Harbhajan 16 (11b, 2x4), R. Uthappa c Nayar b Pollard 4 (6b), R. Taylor c Harbhajan b Fernando 9 (11b), V. Kohli c Tare b Pollard 37 (24b, 4x4, 1x6), D. Steyn b Zaheer 0 (2b), Vinay (not out) 10 (12b, 1x4), Pankaj c Zaheer b Pollard 1 (2b), A. Kumble (not out) 1 (3b); Extras (b-1, lb-2, w-2): 5. Total (for nine wkts., in 20 overs): 134.
Fall of wickets: 1-30, 2-31, 3-58, 4-72, 5-74, 6-97, 7-107, 8-123, 9-126.
Mumbai Indians bowling: Zaheer 4-0-30-1, Fernando 4-0-24-2, McLaren 4-0-21-1, Harbhajan 4-0-28-2, Pollard 4-0-28-3.
