Umesh Yadav takes wickets off the first two balls of the match, but Rohit Sharma gives his team the upper hand with a captain's knock under pressure.
Rohit Sharma was at his devastating best as he pulled his team Mumbai Indians (MI) out of a deep hole on Tuesday. MI squared off with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in a highly-anticipated Indian Premier League (IPL) clash at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
The defending champions were in serious trouble when they lost two wickets off the first two balls. New ball bowler Umesh Yadav was on fire as he castled in-form batsmen Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan off successive deliveries.
However, that was going to be the final high-point for the visitors in the first innings. MI skipper Rohit walked out to the middle in search of runs after failing to get going in his team's first three matches, which they happened to lose.
The stylish right-hander made his intentions clear early on itself as he creamed Corey Anderson through covers to get his first boundary. From there on, Rohit put on an exhibition of power-hitting as he cut and pulled his way to a 52-ball 94.
Rohit's knock, comprising ten fours and five sixes, propelled the hosts to a highly competitive 213/6 from their 20 overs. He missed a much-deserved century by a whisker, getting caught at long-on off the penultimate delivery of the match.
Earlier, fast-bowler Umesh took two wickets from the first two balls of the match to give RCB the perfect start. MI had lost all their three matches, while RCB had lost two out three, coming into Tuesday's match. Both teams were desperate for a win but it was the visiting men who took an early lead.
Umesh, out of the Indian team since a while now, showed just how dangerous he can be when he rattled the stumps off the first two balls of the match.
Suryakumar was the first one to go. The Mumbaikar was beaten by a beauty from the right-arm quick from Vidarbha. That was just the start RCB would've hoped for as Surya has been in good form coming into the match.
Next, another in-form man saw his stumps go for a walk. Umesh cleaned up Ishan with an absolute peach of a delivery. The ball was released towards second slip but moved in drastically to the left-hander to rattle the stumps.
Umesh gave away just three runs and took two key wickets in the first over to give Virat Kohl's team a massive edge in the contest. Although he couldn't complete his hat-trick, with Rohit negotiating the third ball, Umesh should be mighty proud of his effort on Tuesday.
Playing XIs of both teams
Mumbai Indians: Evin Lewis, Rohit Sharma (C), Ishan Kishan (WK), Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, Mitchell McClenaghan, Mayank Markande, Jasprit Bumrah, Mustafizur Rahman.
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Quinton de Kock (wk), Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Mandeep Singh, Corey Anderson, Sarfaraz Khan, Washington Sundar, Chris Woakes, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj.
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 "Rohit Sharma in action on Tuesday")
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