IPL 2020 saw yet another thriller as Royal Challengers Bangalore locked horns with the defending IPL champions Mumbai Indians. RCB started off brilliantly, Courtesy of the youngster Devdutt Padikkal and the experienced Aaron Finch who set the tone from the starting itself.
Skipper Virat Kohli had yet another failure to add to his IPL 2020 miseries as he scored just 3 facing more than 10 balls. However, AB de Villiers took the charge and fired RCB to a grand 200+ total. Shivam Dube’s cameo was very crucial too as it helped AB to unleash the beast within him as he thrashed 27 runs off just 8 balls to Mumbai’s best bowler Jasprit Bumrah.
More action entertained the viewers in the second innings as RCB had a dream start again. Early wickets slowed Mumbai down and it seemed Virat and Co. are heading towards a big win. However, Ishan Kishan had different plans. The youngster played his first game, replacing Saurabh Tiwary and now seems to have him replaced for the rest of the tournament too after a scintillating 99 that got Mumbai just before the doors of victory.
Kishan was devastated as he saw Mumbai slipping on their second win of the season. The social media though fired shots at Mumbai Indians management as Hardik Pandya who did not have a good game was sent instead of Kishan in the match-deciding super over.
After the game, Rohit Sharma explained the precedent of the decision taken. Rohit said, “He was drained out and was not comfortable. We thought we could send him but he was not feeling fresh. I mean 7 runs you need to have luck on your side, we had to get wickets but there was also an unfortunate boundary.”
Rohit also spoke about the partnership Kieron Pollard and Kishan had that brought the long-gone match down to the wire. “It was a great game of cricket. We were not in the game at all when we started off with the bat. Great Innings by Ishan there and then Pollard was brilliant as usual for us. I thought we could chase 200 with the batting power we have.”
We didn’t get the momentum in the first 6-7 overs and also lost three wickets. With Polly being there, anything can happen, Ishan was also hitting it so well we had the belief that we would get there. Nothing to take away from RCB they held their nerve more than us.”
featured image credits- IPLT20