MI vs RCB, 1st Match at Chennai, IPL, Apr 09 2021 - Match Result

12.01am And that will be all from our ball-by-ball coverage tonight. Thanks for joining us on day one - we'll see you tomorrow for Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Capitals. Good night!

Harshal Patel: When they traded me they told me I was part of the plans and would bowl at the death. Absolutely happy to be here to repay the faith showed in me. I didn't know I was the first to get a five-for against Mumbai. Whatever momentum I had I wanted to make use of it. This is my first five-for in 98 matches and to get it against a team like Mumbai is special. I've just been working a lot on my yorker, become more confident in bowling it at different stages of the game. I was always good with length balls and slower balls.

Harshal Patel is the Player of the Match.

Virat Kohli: Last time we won the first game we played as well. It was important to play agains the strongest opposition to test the depth of your team. Everyone got involved, everyone's got game time. Lot of options in the kitty which helped bring the game back. To be honest, the pitch was looking decent in the first half. I thought the dew might help, but as the ball got slower the ball got slower and the length ball got difficult to get away. That's why all those partnerships were crucial. It's not a ground where you can hit through the line unless the situation demands it. It's not going to be that momentum that you see in the IPL. especially in Chennai. The shot that Pollard got out to, invariably in Wankhede and a couple of other stadiums that's sailing into the stands. Those last six overs for us with the ball were probably the best we've ever had. Harshal is relishing the role. He is going to be our designated death bowler. Very confident about what he wants to bring to the table and as a captain you want someone with that clarity. In T20 cricket that's all you ask from the bowler. And the wickets that he got weren't fluke wickets. He actually wanted the guys to hit the ball where he wanted them caught. Maxi we wanted him to bat at 4. Rajat he's solid, an exciting prospect, plays spin well. We want Maxi to come in after a nice set u, but even if we lose early wickets he becomes a different player. You saw today, he's a different player with 10-15 balls behind him. Changed the momentum for us in the middle overs. It's a difficult one, AB is probably the only player who's so versatile and can do what he did on slow pitches today, so we have to understand. If there's a partnership on, you might see a totally different order. But in a tricky chase you want some options in the back end, where the opposition thinks it's not over till he gets out.

AB de Villliers: Was an incredible game of cricket, always seems to be against Mumbai. We obviously came in knowing it wasn't going to be easy. I knew halfway it was going to get tough, it's one of those pitches that gets harder as the game goes on. They have a wonderful bowling line up that put us under pressure. [His wicket] There was an easy two in my opinion, but as I started it felt like I was running backwards. Krunal got it spot on with the throw. Absolute pleasure playing alongside Maxwell. I love playing with players like him, fantastic to have someone like that bat ahead of me and Christian behind me. We have a nice little set up. There's a reason why Mumbai have won this trophy five times, there's a lot of aura around them. But that was the challenge, to beat the champions and get a lot of confidence. We did well tonight.

Rohit Sharma: Winning the championship is important, I guess, not the first game. Great fight, we didn't let it go easily. Although the score wasn't something we were happy with. We were 20 short. We made some mistakes, those are bound to happen. We need to move on. [Jansen] is definitely a talent we've identified. When you look at the situation with four overs left they had AB and Christian, that's why we went with Bumrah and Boult to try and get them out. Definitely not an easy pitch to bat on, odd ball was gripping. That's something we could think of in our next few games here. De Villiers batted really well and got them home. In hindsight we can say that [the intensity will take time to arrive]. We haven't had much time together as a group and it was totally opposite in Dubai, where we began preparations a month before. But that's how the IPL has been played over the years, you just got to get in the game as quickly as possible. It can be difficult for teams that have great home records, but that is what sport is, you've got to go away and win. We are fortunate that we're even on the park.

Alok: "Krunal always finds a way to get ABD out, if not with the ball then with his fielding!"

Akhil: "Harshal Patel deservingly hit the winning run. MI lost their first match again, and it's their IPL to lose now."

Ritesh: "A word of praise for young Jansen... Kept his,side in the hunt till the last ball despite giving away a few runs earlier on."

11.24pm RCB's bowling hero seals the win with the bat. In many ways this has been a characteristic RCB performance, but in many ways it's been flavoured by their new set up. Death overs bowling came to the fore, and a deep batting has certainly helped them tonight as they sneak through. The frailties of last season are still lingering, but they've had just enough of an improvement, the barest of them, to get by today. It took AB at the back end, but a decent set up came from new signing Maxwell too. Mumbai's batting in the back end of the innings was their worst performance in four years, and that's ended up costing them. Their bowling showed up when it needed to, once again. Jansen had an important job to do after Bumrah dismissed Kohli, and he did that with aplomb after going for a few in his first spell.

Short third, short point, short cover point. Midwicket the only man back...

And what that's done is brought Siraj to the crease. RCB need 2 off 2. Harshal is surely prepared to run to the other end no matter what - they do not want Siraj facing two balls here. Rohit and Jansen having a chat. Third man is back. Point and midwicket are in. So are extra cover and mid-off. He's going around the wicket...

Fine leg, third man, point, extra cover are in

Harshal, five-for today. Feeling confident, no doubt...

So seven off the last over, AB is on strike. Harshal at the other end who can bat. Marco Jansen has the responsibility of trying to stop one of his childhood heroes. He's over the wicket.

13 off 10...

Vijit Mahaur: "There are magicians and then there is AB de Villiers."

He keeps strike. RCB need 19 off 12. How much can they get off Bumrah? How much do they want to, considering that it could be young Jansen bowling the 20th?

Not been great lengths from Boult so far

AB v Boult in the IPL before today - 16 balls, 41 runs including 3 sixes and 4 fours, SR of 256

Boult. AB will fancy him...