IPL 2020 | MI vs RCB Evaluation Chart - Suryakumar ‘class’ Yadav muscles Mumbai to crushing win

Ratings chart

MI 8/10 - A decent start for Mumbai but towards the end they lost the wicket of Quinton de Kock and lost the momentum going in the middle overs. Ishan Kishan played some cracking shots to push Mumbai to the score of 45/1 at the end of the powerplay. Kept the game in balance. 

RCB 7/10 - NOT QUITE THERE! RCB certainly did not do justice to their reputation of being the best team in the middle overs by losing 3 wickets and scoring 77 runs, taking their total to 131/3. Padikkal played extremely well but was not supported by Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers as RCB lost their main men before the death overs. 

MI 8/10 - SKY YOU BEAUTY! Although Mumbai kept losing wickets, it was Suryakumar Yadav who single-handely blasted Bangalore bowlers all over the park. He was hitting the ball according to his will, taking the score to 117/3. 

MI 10/10 - PITCH PERFECT! Bangalore were jolted upfront as Pollard got the wicket of AB de Villiers and then, Bumrah bowled an excellent maiden over with 2 wickets, destroying whatever hopes RCB had of a big score. Bangalore could score just 33 runs in 5 overs, giving a target of 165 for Mumbai to chase. Mumbai turned the match in their favour with their brilliant bowling at the death. 

RCB 5/10 - The middle overs had already set up the game for Mumbai and given the form SKY was in, it felt like a mere formality that Bangalore bowlers were completing. They were ineffective against the quality batting of SKY and the power of Hardik Pandya. They didn’t have sufficient runs to defend and Mumbai made sure they didn’t get any chance to come back, winning the match losing just a solitary wicket in the death overs. 

Josh Philippe solves the opening worries for Bangalore

Although Devdutt Padikkal has been consistent from one end, Aaron Finch has struggled to find form in IPL 2020. Having scored just 236 runs in 11 matches, Finch, apart from one fifty, looked pale. It was an obvious decision to switch him with Philippe, but the RCB management stuck with Finch, despite his failures, putting extra pressure on the batsmen to come. Finally given a chance to open instead of Finch against Mumbai, Philippe grabbed the opportunity with both hands and gelled perfectly in the opening role, scoring 24-ball 33. He looked fluent right from the start, hitting Bumrah for a gorgeous four through an on-drive, and supported Padikkal to give Bangalore a 71-run opening stand. This combination seems to be working fine for now and Bangalore should stick with it in the coming matches as they make their way to the playoffs, making good use of the young Australian. 

Padikkal has been batting extremely well since the start of this season when he first took on the responsibility of opening the innings for RCB. Initially, he looked like a classical batsman, trusting conventional cricket shots to do the job for him. But as the season has progressed he has added few unconventional shots to his repertoire, which have paid off quite well. Even in this match against Mumbai when Rahul Chahar came on to bowl, he played a paddle sweep and then followed it by a reverse sweep, hitting fours on two consecutive balls and not letting the spinner settle down. With such kinds of shots added as he gains confidence, it will certainly be tougher for the bowlers to plan for him, making him dangerous for the opposition bowlers. With 74-ball 45 against Mumbai, he has now amassed 417 runs in IPL 2020, proving he is here to stay. 

SKY should have been selected instead of Shreyas Iyer or Manish Pandey

Turning Point

Bangalore got off to a great start with the first wicket falling on 71, however, after that, Virat Kohli took some balls to get going and as he tried to accelerate he got out to Bumrah, scoring 9 off 14, putting the entire line up in pressure. The Bangalore batting could never recover from that and they were short by a few runs on the day. 

The match that promised a lot, given it was a clash between the top two, but it couldn’t quite live up to expectations as Mumbai more or less won the match with ease. Devdutt Padikkal and SKY’s batting did make for a good watching experience, but the match could have been better had there been more runs on the board. Overall, a decent watching experience.