The tenth match 10 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI) ended in a tie (already the second of the season), with Virat Kohli’s RCB eventually pipping Rohit Sharma’s MI in Super Over.
On the last ball of the second innings, Kieron Pollard smashed a boundary to help MI equal the RCB score of 201, pushing the match into the Super Over. But during MI’s turn to bat first, fans got baffled not to see Ishan Kishan coming out to bat. Kishan had top-scored for MI with a 58-ball 99, almost taking them home.
MI sent Pollard and Hardik Pandya, a move that raised eyebrows in the long run as the team scored just seven runs off Navdeep Saini’s Super Over. Though Jaspreet Bumrah bowled well and took the Super Over to the last ball, RCB skipper Kohli hit a boundary to get his team over the finish line.
As surprising as it was not to see Kishan bat in the Super Over, MI skipper Rohit explained the reason behind holding the batsman back.
“He (Kishan) 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. There are a lot of positives to take away from this game,” Rohit said after the match.
A soaking wet Kishan watched from the dugout as MI came perilously close to registering their second win of the season.
Earlier, the half-centuries from Aaron Finch, Devdutt Padikkal and AB de Villiers guided RCB to a strong total – 201/3. MI, in their run-chase, were dented early, restricted to 78/4 in the 12th over. But a partnership of 119 between Kishan and Pollard brought MI back into the game, with the West Indies all-rounder staying unbeaten on 60 off 24 balls.
“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. It is just that we couldn’t start well, I thought we could chase 200 with the batting power we have,” Rohit said.
“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 well so we had the belief that we would get there. Nothing to take away from RCB they held their nerve more than us,” he added.
