Defending Champion Mumbai Indians (MI) broke its seven-match losing streak in the UAE by thumping Kolkata Knight Riders by 49 runs to register its first win in IPL 2020. Riding high on confidence, the Blue-Gold brigade would aim to continue its winning momentum when it meets Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Match 10 of the IPL at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.
Mumbai dusted off the loss it suffered against Chennai Super Kings in the opener and bounced back strongly against Kolkata with skipper Rohit Sharma leading from the front with a thunderous 54-ball 80.
The Virat Kohli-led Bangalore, on the other hand, is yet to recover from the 97-run drubbing it received in the hands of Kings XI Punjab. After narrowly eking out a 10-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in its first game, Bangalore imploded against Punjab, with Kohli facing much of the flak.
A couple of dropped catches by the RCB skipper against Punjab allowed K. L. Rahul to script a record unbeaten century - 132 off 69 deliveries - the highest score by an Indian in the IPL. Chasing a mammoth target of 207 runs, the Bangalore batting line-up fell apart with kingpin Kohli back in the dugout after facing just five deliveries.
Bangalore folded for 109, denting its net run-rate (-2.175) and with the tournament entering the second week, Kohli would eye to plug the gaps with a win over Mumbai.
How MI, RCB stack up
Mumbai seems to have regained its mojo back as it notched a clinical win against Kolkata. Quinton de Kock and Rohit form a formidable opening pair with the skipper warming up with a dazzling fifty. Suryakumar Yadav flexed his muscles and so did Saurabh Tiwary, who has been in good touch, acting much like a floater.
The likes of Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard have provided glimpses of brilliance and the duo will tee off when the need arises. In the bowling department, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was back at his best, bowling his trademark yorkers and lighting up the stumps after a lukewarm opening game. Mumbai will miss the services of Hardik with the ball as the all-rounder has just returned to competitive cricket after recovering from a back injury. But, with the likes of Trent Boult, James Pattinson and Rahul Chahar operating in tandem, Mumbai has its bases covered.
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Bangalore, meanwhile, can take heart from the fact that opener Devdutt Padikkal smashed a fifty along with AB de Villiers against Hyderabad. But, it will hope skipper Kohli hunts the leather along with Australia limited-overs skipper Aaron Finch, who has looked rusty.
More than batting, it is the bowling that has once again arrived to haunt Bangalore, even in this season. Umesh Yadav’s erratic bowling has allowed the opposition to plunder runs and Dale Steyn's inability to strike with the new ball has only compounded problems. Yuzvendra Chahal remains the lone bright spot in a rather lacklustre bowling attack and Bangalore needs to iron out its flaws before facing a heavyweight in Mumbai.
- Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers, Parthiv Patel (wk), Aaron Finch, Josh Philippe, Chris Morris, Moeen Ali, Mohammed Siraj, Shahbaz Ahmed, Devdutt Padikkal, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, Dale Steyn, Pawan Negi, Isuru Udana, Shivam Dube, Umesh Yadav, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Washington Sundar, Pavan Deshpande, Adam Zampa.
- Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Digvijay Deshmukh, Aditya Tare (wk), Saurabh Tiwary, Jasprit Bumrah, Krunal Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Rahul Chahar, Chris Lynn, Hardik Pandya, Sherfane Rutherford, Anmolpreet Singh, Mohsin Khan, Mitchell McClenaghan, Prince Balwant Rai, Anukul Roy, Ishan Kishan, Dhawal Kulkarni, Trent Boult, Jayant Yadav, Suryakumar Yadav, Nathan Coulter-Nile, James Pattinson.
- Match: RCB vs MI, IPL 2020, 10th Match
- Date: Monday, September 28, 2020
- Time: 7:30 PM
- Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai.
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