MI vs RCB | Krunal bowling heroics trump brother Hardik's hara-kiri as RCB check Wankhede off hitlist

04/07/2025

RCB held their nerve in a close game at the Wankhede

Royal Challengers Bengaluru managed to see off a late Mumbai Indians surge to defend 221 by a margin of 12 runs at the Wankhede. While Virat Kohli (67) and Rajat Patidar (64) starred with the bat, the Pandya Brothers, Hardik (42) and Krunal (4/45) combined for either side to make it a close contest.

Winning the toss, Mumbai chose the field first and were instantly rewarded with the wicket of Phil Salt on the very second ball of the game. Kohli and Padikkal ensured that they consolidated well and even managed to get the visitors to 73 by the end of the powerplay. The hitting did not stop there as both batters continued to accelerate before Padikkal (37) finally holed out to Will Jacks off Vignesh Puthur. While RCB got to an even 100 in 10 overs, Patidar and Kohli went on the aggressive with the former smashing Santner for a 20 run over. Even though Kohli was dismissed attempting a slog sweep, Patidar took Hardik to the cleaners in a 23 run over. With Bumrah conceding only 14 runs in his two overs, RCB finished with 221/5 in their allotted 20 overs.

Even though Mumbai were handed an early blow as well with Rohit Sharma (17) departing early, the hosts managed to get to 34 runs on the board with half the powerplay done. However, with some tight bowling, RCB managed to restrict Mumbai to 54 for 2 in the next three overs. With Suyash Sharma not allowing runs at all, Mumbai were only able to muster 84 in the ten overs and by the time the leggie was done, Mumbai still needed 105 runs in seven overs. Just as it looked like all hope was lost, in stepped Hardik Pandya with an eight ball 33 and coupled with Tilak scoring 13 off Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Timeout! What a game it is turning out to be! It looked like the game was slipping away from MI but some terrific hitting from Hardik and Tilak has brought them right back into it. MI needed just 52 off 24 deliveries. However, Bangalore kept their cool with Krunal Pandya bowling a brilliant last over to secure a 12 run victory.

No more pace

pic.twitter.com/J61dbqIgNC
— david Miller (@MillerDavi20894) April 7, 2025

Sad

Suryakumar Yadav - 28(26) while chasing 222#MIvsRCB pic.twitter.com/cfcaevVd6r
— Binod (@wittybinod) April 7, 2025

Love it

This is the kind of exciting finish i’ve been craving the last few days.

What an entertaining game these teams have given us #MIvsRCB
— Gaurav Kapur (@gauravkapur) April 7, 2025

Vintage

-17 runs off Suyash Over

- 22 runs off Hazelwood over

Vintage RCB back in form? pic.twitter.com/n4NPhK57r4
— TukTuk Academy (@TukTuk_Academy) April 7, 2025

Captain

Captain Pandya.💀 pic.twitter.com/5IKxAXoTdJ
— Gems of Cricket (@GemsOfCrickets) April 7, 2025

LOL

"Ye kya kya dekhna pad raha hain" pic.twitter.com/8oUS0PFCRL
— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) April 7, 2025

Gamble

Bangalore’s gamble of asking Bhuvneshwar and Hazelwood to bowl the 18th and 19th over, and not worrying about Krunal for the last over, just won the game for them#RCBvsMI
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) April 7, 2025

Well tried