Brief Scores: RCB 151/4 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 68*(53), Sachin Baby 25*(13), Krunal Pandya 1/15) vs MI 153/4 in 18.3/ 20 overs(Rayudu 44(47), Pollard 35*(19), Chahal 1/16)

Rohit SharmaWatson called the toss and won it, which elicited a disappointed reaction from Kohli. "Whatever I do, call or flip, I'm losing the toss," said Virat Kohli. About the pitch, he said, "Looks a pretty good wicket, we just have to put runs on the board now." But that second part turned out to be tougher than expected.

Tinkering with the opening partnership that had clicked so well did not augur that well today for RCB. It happened to be Virat Kohli's rare off day, and Chris Gayle's not-so-rare off day. In the first ball of the 2nd over, Kohli tried to guide a short one from McClenaghan but sent it straight to the third man fielder – it was his first single-digit score in 18 T20 innings. Kohli did not seem overly concerned when he returned to the pavilion, though – he probably realized a single digit score was due, and anyway Gayle and ABD were still out there at the easiest of Indian grounds. But Southee struck again in his next over to remove a struggling Gayle again with a short one. ABD hung in there with a less than run-a-ball innings of 24, but he left in the 10th over.

2. Rahul rebuilds the innings

3. Rayudu and Rohit give Mumbai a steady start

Sreenath Aravind removed Parthiv Patel with his first delivery in the second over to struck the first blow in Mumbai Indians’ chase of 152. The left-hander flashed his bat at a wide delivery only to edge it to Shane Watson at first slip. Although Parthiv departed early, Rohit Sharma and Ambati Rayudu made sure that the reigning champions got off to a good start by forming a steady 58-run stand. The duo started slowly and looked for ones and twos to keep the scoreboard ticking. 39 runs came in the powerplay as Rohit and Rayudu looked in control of the situation with the required run rate near 8. Kohli introduced Chahal after the powerplay, and the leggie dried the runs out with two tight overs of four and six runs respectively. That built up the pressure and led to the skipper’s wicket in the 10th over after Rohit went for a pull off Aaron, only to sky it into AB de Villiers’ hands.

Kieron Pollard arrived at the crease after two quick wickets of Rohit Sharma and Nitish Rana. Rana came in for his IPL debut and looked in good nick after a six off Aaron, but his attempt to go for one more brought his downfall in the 13th over with Stuart Binny taking a brilliant catch at the cover boundary. The run rate was climbing into double digits when Kieron Pollard arrived in the middle, and he cut it back to single figures. The West Indian went after Watson and smashed him for a four and a six in the 15th over to get things going. But, Mumbai Indians suffered a blow the next over after AB de Villers took a blinder at the long-on boundary to remove Rayudu. With the settled batsman back in the pavilion, Mumbai looked in a spot of bother with 44 needed off the last four overs. However, Pollard made a mockery of the required run rate and took Watson to the cleaners by scoring 18 runs in the 17th over to bring the required run rate back to single digits. Jos Buttler dished almost the same treatment to his England teammate Chris Jordan to take the team closer to the victory. The final 10 runs proved to be a mere formality as Pollard and Buttler finished off the job with eight balls to spare.