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Rohit Sharma's barren run at the Wankhede continued despite fleeting glimpses of fluency -- a crisp pull over square leg and a silken push down the ground offering brief hope. But Yash Dayal ended his stay with a full, curling inswinger that breached the gate and crashed into the stumps via an inside edge.
Hardik Joins Elite T20 Club
Mumbai's innings stumbled further when Ryan Rickelton fell soon after, trapped LBW by Josh Hazlewood. The breakthrough came courtesy of Jitesh Sharma, who sprinted up from behind the stumps and convinced skipper Rajat Patidar to review a call that even Hazlewood wasn't sure about. The ball had pitched in line and struck the back leg -- HawkEye confirmed Jitesh's sharp instincts.
Hazlewood then followed up with a miserly sixth over, conceding just two runs and stifling a scratchy Suryakumar Yadav, who eventually limped to 28 off 26.
Hardik Pandya walked out with the scoreboard reading 99 for 4, and a daunting 222 to chase. The Wankhede was subdued, the Mumbai Indians innings gasping after SKY's stuttering knock. What followed was a spell of breathtaking power-hitting that nearly flipped the game -- and left the crowd in awe.
In just 15 balls, Hardik blazed his way to 42 runs, launching a full-throttle counterattack that threatened to wrest victory from the jaws of certain defeat.
The assault began in the 14th over when Hardik turned the screws on his elder brother. Krunal Pandya, bowling for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, was greeted with two sixes and two fours in a stunning takedown of sibling sentiment. The boundaries rained down -- straight, square, and over midwicket -- as Hardik's bat ignited the Wankhede.
From needing over 15 runs an over, Mumbai clawed back into the contest. Hardik wasn't alone in the fight -- Tilak Varma produced a classy 56 off 29.
In the span of nine balls, Hardik plundered four sixes and two fours off the likes of Hazlewood and Krunal, turning the match on its head. His ability to generate effortless power, even off full deliveries and wide lines, reminded the cricketing world of his destructive best.
With Hardik at 32 off 7, the ask dropped to 71 off 33. The momentum had shifted, the crowd was back on its feet, and RCB's bowlers were under siege. There was even a bit of gamesmanship -- delayed field placements, lengthy chats -- all aimed at disrupting his rhythm. But Hardik stayed locked in.
Then came the 19th over. RCB turned to Josh Hazlewood, their specialist under pressure. First ball -- full, just outside off. Hardik swung hard but got under it. The ball hung in the night sky before Liam Livingstone settled under it at deep midwicket. Silence. Then a roar -- but from the RCB camp.
It was the moment that sealed the game.
Hardik watched from the dugout, visibly heartbroken. He had played the innings of the match -- maybe even the innings of his season -- but it wasn't enough.
Amid the chaos of a crumbling chase and the pressure of a soaring asking rate, Tilak Varma stood tall, offering Mumbai a glimmer of hope with a gutsy innings. His 56 off just 29 balls, laced with clean hitting and calm intent, nearly scripted a sensational comeback -- but in the end, it was a case of too little, too late.
Coming in at a delicate juncture, with MI struggling at 79 for 3 in pursuit of 222, Tilak stepped up just when his side needed stability and spark.
What made this knock particularly meaningful was the context -- just a game earlier, he had been retired out, a rare and public setback for a young batter trying to cement his place. But Tilak responded like a seasoned pro.
He rotated strike early, picked gaps, and then launched. His clean striking saw him bring up his maiden fifty of the season off just 26 balls, a confident response under the lights and the weight of expectations. He was especially harsh on anything full, using his strong bottom hand to good effect and targeting the straight boundaries with precision.
As Hardik Pandya went berserk at the other end, Tilak matched him shot for shot -- the duo adding vital momentum that brought the equation down from an improbable climb to a manageable one.
For a while, MI looked like they might pull off the unthinkable.
But just as MI began to believe, the dream began to fade. In the 18th over, Tilak mistimed a big hit off Bhuvneshwar Kumar and holed out, his innings ending on 56 off 29 balls (4 fours, 4 sixes). The silence in the crowd was palpable -- they knew the chase had lost its anchor.
In the end, Tilak's knock will be remembered as a spark amidst the wreckage, a reminder of the talent he possesses and the temperament he's building. It wasn't enough to take MI over the line, but it might be the innings that kickstarts his season and silences some doubters.
RCB ended a long-standing hoodoo at the Wankhede, snapping a six-match losing streak at the iconic venue with a thrilling 12 run win over Mumbai in a high-octane IPL clash on Monday night.
It was a night of milestones and momentum swings, but ultimately, RCB held their nerve, and it all began with a vintage Virat Kohli masterclass, backed by Rajat Patidar's fireworks and a collective death-bowling effort under pressure.
Batting first, RCB posted a commanding 221 for 5, thanks to Kohli's sublime 67 off 42 balls (8 boundaries, 2 sixes) and Patidar's blistering 64 off 32.
Kohli was in imperious touch, racing to his fastest T20 fifty since 2019 -- off just 29 balls -- and becoming the first Indian and only the fifth player in T20 history to cross 13,000 runs, joining the elite ranks of Chris Gayle, Shoaib Malik, Kieron Pollard and David Warner.
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Kohli, who traditionally anchors innings, flipped the script with fearless intent. He smashed eight fours and two sixes, including a signature whipped six off Jasprit Bumrah and a vintage cover drive off Trent Boult that oozed class. His running between the wickets remained as sharp as ever, adding pressure on MI's fielders.
Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal (37 off 22) set the tone early with a 91-run stand that powered RCB to their best-ever PowerPlay against MI -- 72/1.
It was a blazing start, especially after Phil Salt's early dismissal, as Padikkal teed off with successive sixes against Deepak Chahar in a 20-run sixth over.
Kohli reached his fifty with a slog sweep off Vignesh Puthur and continued to attack despite a mid-innings squeeze from MI.
Despite Bumrah bowling a rare wicketless spell (0/29), MI were under pressure as RCB's middle-order cameos from Jitesh Sharma (40 off 19) ensured a fiery finish.
The last time RCB had won at the Wankhede was in 2015. This time, they not only broke the jinx but did it in style -- fueled by Kohli's milestone, Patidar's punch, and a death-bowling performance that defied their pre-season doubts.
RCB emerged with their campaign rejuvenated -- and a long-awaited win in Mumbai finally in the bag.
On a night of sky-high stakes and even higher scores, Rajat Patidar emerged as the game-changer, delivering a fearless 64 off 32 balls to propel RCB to their highest total of the season -- a commanding 221/5.
Patidar's entry came at a tense moment. RCB had just lost Padikkal and the innings threatened to unravel. At the 13-over mark, Patidar was crawling at 19 off 16 -- watchful and composed, soaking in the pressure. Then came the timeout. And with it, a dramatic transformation.
Post-break, Patidar flipped the switch. He tore into Mitchell Santner, smashing 20 runs off his final over, including clean strikes down the ground and over midwicket. The tone had changed. RCB's innings had found its new anchor.
The defining moment came in the 17th over, where Patidar dismantled Hardik Pandya with two thunderous sixes and a rasping four, ransacking 23 runs that tipped the game decisively in RCB's favour. His half-century came in just 25 balls, a knock that wasn't just aggressive -- it was surgical under pressure.
Partnering with the inventive Jitesh Sharma (40* off 19), Patidar stitched a blazing 50-run stand in just 17 balls, ensuring RCB surged to a finish that had once looked unlikely.
By the time Ryan Rickelton pulled off a sensational diving catch to end his stay in the penultimate over, the damage had been done. Patidar had transformed a stuttering innings into a statement total.
He picked his moments smartly: Respecting Bumrah, who conceded just 6 in the 18th over, and targeting the vulnerable ends. He took 33 off just 12 balls against Hardik, who finished with bruised figures of 4-0-45-2, and left Trent Boult with his costliest T20 spell ever -- 4-0-57-2, thanks also to Jitesh Sharma's audacious strokes.
Rajat Patidar didn't just score runs. He owned the moment. Calm when it mattered, ruthless when it counted -- it was a knock that didn't just win a match, it could very well redefine a season.
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