Salt, Patidar fifties power RCB to 18-run victory over MI in high-scoring IPL thriller

Salt and Patidar put up a sensational display of power-hitting as they rained sixes on their way to half-centuries, and with Virat Kohli contributing a sedate 50, RCB posted a challenging 240/4 in their 20 overs.

Mumbai Indians' ambitious chase of a record-high target at Wankhede fizzled out after former skipper Rohit Sharma suffered a hamstring injury and had to retire hurt for 19 off 13 balls. Sherfane Rutherford hammered an unbeaten 71 off 31 balls, smashing nine sixes towards the fag end of the match after Hardik Pandya (40) and Ryan Rickelton (37) raised the hopes a bit at the start. Mumbai Indians eventually finished with 222/5 in 20 overs, falling short by 18 runs to slump to their third defeat in a row.

RCB won their third game in four matches, moving up to six points and the third spot in the points table, behind Rajasthan Royals (8) and Punjab Kings (7).

It was a strange match, as it dragged on and on, with players walking off with injuries after seeking lengthy breaks for treatment on the ground, and both teams going for review for no-balls and wides, thus prolonging the proceedings, which became tedious towards the end.

The Mumbai Indians started their chase of 241 on a bright note with Ryan Rickelton, who started with a six off Jacob Duffy in the opening over, and Rohit Sharma raising 50 runs for the team in the fifth over. The five-time champions reached 62 for no loss in the six overs of Power-play, but the dugout was not that happy as former captain Rohit Sharma had to retire hurt because of a hamstring injury, for which he received treatment on the ground. He was batting on 19 in the sixth over when he decided to return to the dugout and receive more treatment.

Rickelton struck Duffy for four and six and swung the seasoned Bhuvneshwar Kumar for a six over the long-leg fence. He was the first to go when he took a wild swing at a Suyash Sharma googly, only to top-edge it to Bhuvneshwar at short third. Rickelton was out for 37 off 22 balls, hitting three fours and as many sixes.

Tilak Varma (1) survived only three balls before he attempted a sweep off Suyash Sharma, only to spoon a simple catch to Duffy. The double strike by the leg-spinner virtually derailed the Mumbai Indians' chase.

Suryakumar Yadav, who started with a four off Impact player Rasikh Salam on the second ball he faced, struck Krunal Pandya for a four and took back-to-back boundaries off Suyash Sharma in the 10th over as Mumbai reached 99/2 at the halfway stage, lagging a bit behind RCB, who were 115 for no loss at the same stage. But SKY could not produce a match-defining long innings as he scored 33 off 22 balls before swiping it straight down to Rasikh Salam at backward square leg.

Hardik Pandya hammered a six off the first ball from Suyash Sharma and a four a few balls later. A couple of boundaries off Bhuvneshwar Kumar's 11th over, followed by a couple of fours off Suyash, kept Mumbai's hopes alive. But the Mumbai Indians' chase lacked confidence after Rohit walked off injured, and Hardik's heroics too did not last long as he miscued Duffy to Romario Shepherd 41 as MI slumped to 145/4 in the 15th over, leaving Mumbai needing 93 from the last five overs.

Rutherford then carried on the fight, reaching his half-century in 26 balls as he remained unbeaten on 71 off 36 balls, hitting one four and nine mighty sixes.

Earlier, asked to bat first, Phil Salt came out with guns blazing as he and Virat Kohli raised 100 runs for the opening wicket stand. They scored 13 runs off Trent Boult's opening over, with Kohli blasting him for a six and Salt for a four.

After steady scores off Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, and Boult, Phil Salt welcomed Mitchell Santner by hammering a hat-trick of sixes (first a heave over deep square leg, the next clubbed over wide long-on, and third smashed over deep square leg), followed by a four off his first four deliveries of the match, blasting 22 runs from the over.

While Kohli scored at a sedate pace, Salt continued to operate in the third gear, hitting Mayank Markande for a hat-trick of boundaries as he raced to his fifty in 25 balls. A six to celebrate his fifty off Markande in the eighth over meant Salt motored to 61 off just 27 balls. He eventually fell to Shardul Thakur in the 11th over, hitting an easy catch straight to Pandya at extra cover. Salt scored 78 off 36 balls, blasting half a dozen fours and sixes on the way.

But there was no respite for the Mumbai Indians as Rajat Patidar took over the role of power-hitter. Starting with a four off Thakur, Patidar smashed a hat-trick of sixes off Markande in the 12th over. He smashed a six and a couple of fours off Thakur as they scored 23 runs off the 13th over and struck a four and six off Boult in the 1th over as he threatened to smash the record for the fastest fifty in IPL history, reaching 44 off 11 balls.

Meanwhile, Kohli struggled to a sluggish fifty off 37 balls before Patidar blazed to his half-century from 16 balls, with a streaky four off Santner. Both Kohli and Patidar fell soon after completing their fifties, as the Mumbai Indians applied the brakes as the RCB fell from 185/1 to 194/3 within eight balls.

Kohli ended his misery by holing out to Suryakumar Yadav at long-on off Pandya for 50 (38 balls, 5x4, 1x6) while Patidar fell to Santner, attempting to shank him over long-on but miscuing it to Tilak Varma. Patidar hammered four boundaries and five maximums in his 20-ball 53.

Things went a bit quiet after that, though Tim David blasted Pandya for a six off a free hit and helped them score fifty runs in the last five overs. David remained unbeaten on 34 off 16 balls, reached with a six off the last ball bowled by Boult, as RCB, who were threatening to go beyond 250 after reaching 115/0 at the halfway mark and 201/3 in 17.

Brief scores:

Royal Challengers Bengaluru 240/4 in 20 overs (Phil Salt 78, Rajat Patidar 53, Virat Kohli 50, Tim David 34 not out; Shardul Thakur 1-32, Hardik Pandya 1-39) beat Mumbai Indians 222/5 in 20 overs (Sherfane Rutherford 71 not out, Hardik Pandya 40; Suyash Sharma 2-47, Krunal Pandya 1-26) by 18 runs.

- IANS