Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Mumbai Indians (MI) treated one and all with a nerve-wracking clash that stretched till the Super Over. RCB skipper Virat Kohli scored the winning boundary in the last ball to take his team across the finishing line.
This was the second instance in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020, where Super Over was required to decide the winner. Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Delhi Capitals (DC) played the first, on September 20.
Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma took to Instagram to express excitement after her husband Kohli and AB de Villiers guided RCB to the victory in the Super Over. Anushka quipped the game as “too exciting for a pregnant lady”.
She lauded the squad and wrote: “What a team this one!”
RCB edge past MI in a nail-biting encounter
Aaron Finch and Devdutt Padikkal gave RCB a cracking start as the duo combined 81 runs before the former fell prey to Trent Boult.
Finch departed after scoring a quickfire 52. Captain Kohli (3 off 11) once again failed to contribute anything substantial with the bat.
AB De Villers looked in an ominous touch, clobbering the MI’s bowlers all over the park with incredible ease. He scored unbeaten 55 off 24 balls with the help of four fours and as many sixes.
An explosive cameo from Shivam Dube ( 27 off 10) propelled the Challengers to an imposing target of 201/3 in 20 overs.
Chasing the target, MI was never really in the game for the entirety of the first half. It was a stellar partnership between Ishan Kishan and Kieron Pollard that nearly snatched the victory from the jaws of defeat.
MI needed 18 runs from the last over. Kishan smoked back-to-back sixes to bring down the equation to 5 off 2 balls.
The southpaw, however, departed in the penultimate delivery, finishing just a run short of his well-deserved century.
Pollard scored a boundary of the last over to take the match into Super Over which they eventually lost after RCB chased down the paltry target of eight runs without breaking any sweat.
