RCB vs MI, 14th match at Mumbai, Apr 20 2016 - Ball by Ball Commentary

RESULT
14th match (N), Wankhede, April 20, 2016, Indian Premier League
(18/20 ov, T:171) 171/4

MI won by 6 wickets (with 12 balls remaining)

rohit-sharma
Player Of The Match
62 (44)
krunal-pandya
Cricinfo's MVP
92.58 ptsImpact List
New
Over18
14 runs
MI 171/4CRR: 9.50
Kieron Pollard 39 (19b 4x4 3x6)Hardik Pandya 2 (3b)
Shane Watson0/40 (4)

11.45pm Mumbai get themselves back on their feet - they have two wins and three losses now. Royal Challengers need to fix their bowling, and fix it quickly. That's it from us tonight. Hope you enjoyed our coverage. Until next time, good night!

Rohit Sharma is the Man of the Match. "I think this is the kind of game we wanted to play. Bowlers did an excellent job, to restrict a team like that to 170. There wasn't much there. Especially the spinners - Krunal Pandya, getting those wickets, even Harbhajan Singh. The things we discussed in our meetings, we executed it really well. If you look at last year's performance, there was hardly any batsmen in the top five [run-getters], which shows it was a team effort. The way Buttler and Pollard played today, they are match-winners for their respective countries, we know exactly what they can do, and credit goes to Rayudu as well, he batted brilliantly in the middle."

Chandra: "The Buttler did it. At least, he was an accessory."

AGNI: "Till now this IPL has been boring. One sided matches and 12 of 13 matches having won by team chasing. This implies team which wins the toss will win the match single-handedly. What is the point of watching whole match??!!." -- It's now 13 out of 14.

Nitish: "AB misfielding twice in the same match??? Seems like doomsday is near..."

Puranjay: "Who is this AB de Villiers lookalike playing for RCB ? He can't field."

11.32pm RCB simply didn't put enough runs on the board, I suppose. There was plenty of dew too, and if bowling second is difficult on most grounds in India, it's even more so here at the Wankhede. But what will hurt RCB is how easy it was for Mumbai, and they might need a re-look at their bowling combination. Good knocks from Rohit, Rayudu, Buttler and Pollard to take Mumbai home.

17.6
4
Watson to Pollard, FOUR runs

wide and full, Pollard reaches out, frees his arms, and slices it away between keeper and short third man to bring up a six-wicket win for Mumbai

17.5
4
Watson to Pollard, FOUR runs

yorker, excellent yorker, right up on middle stump, and AB misfields again! It's clipped straight to him at long-on, and he stumbles as he bends to pick it up, and it hits his body and rolls away to the boundary

17.4
Watson to Pollard, no run

slower bouncer wide of off, Pollard can't connect with the pull

17.3
Watson to Pollard, no run

wide slower ball, very full, and Pollard swings and misses

17.2
6
Watson to Pollard, SIX runs

length ball on middle stump and Pollard clears his front leg to whip that away over the square leg boundary

17.1
Watson to Pollard, no run

wide yorker. Well bowled. Pollard can't put bat to it as he looks to jab it away through point

Over17
14 runs
MI 157/4CRR: 9.23  RRR: 4.66
Kieron Pollard 25 (13b 2x4 2x6)Hardik Pandya 2 (3b)
Kane Richardson1/25 (3)
16.6
1lb
Kane Richardson to Pollard, 1 leg bye

short again, but this time Pollard is through the pull too early, off the right hip and rolls towards short third man

around the wicket now

16.5
6
Kane Richardson to Pollard, SIX runs

once again it's short, and this time he steps across nimbly to pull it over the square leg boundary

16.4
6
Kane Richardson to Pollard, SIX runs

oh my. That was short outside off, and Pollard clears his front leg to make a bit of room, and flat-bats it all the way over the long-off boundary, with only his bottom hand holding the bat

16.3
Kane Richardson to Pollard, no run

length ball outside off, straightens a touch to beat Pollard's frozen-footed poke

16.2
1
Kane Richardson to Hardik, 1 run

short on off stump, again it hurries on, and Pandya pulls in the air but lands it well short of deep square leg running to his left

16.1
Kane Richardson to Hardik, no run

short outside off, and it hurries past Pandya's edge as he looks to cut. Went too hard at that

Chandan Tahasil: "All Mumbai Players playing well against MI. Last match it was Dhawal. Today Khan and Abdulla. Why don't MI retain them? They know home conditions well."

Kunal: "Funny you mentioned Azhar, just when I was watching highlights of his 121 at Lords. Was too young to watch him play, wondered what the fuss was all about, that was awesome!" -- What an innings that was!

Over16
15 runs, 1 wicket
MI 143/4CRR: 8.93  RRR: 7.00
Hardik Pandya 1 (1b)Kieron Pollard 13 (9b 2x4)
Iqbal Abdulla3/40 (4)
15.6
1
Abdulla to Hardik, 1 run

tossed up on off stump, driven to long-off

15.5
1
Abdulla to Pollard, 1 run

back of a length on leg stump, whipped to deep square leg

15.5
1w
Abdulla to Pollard, 1 wide

huge appeal for caught behind, and the umpire waits, waits, and signals wide. Back of a length, sliding down the leg side, and I don't think Pollard got any bat on that leg-side tickle. May have clipped his thigh on the way, though. No disturbance on Snicko even as it passes the thigh

The time-out has timed out. Hardik Pandya is the new man.

15.4
W
Abdulla to Buttler, OUT

and Abdulla gets another. Sees him coming down the track again and fires it wider. Buttler goes for the big hit anyway and slices it in the air, and down to the fielder at short third man

Jos Buttler c Watson b Iqbal Abdulla 28 (14b 2x4 2x6 26m) SR: 200
15.3
6
Abdulla to Buttler, SIX runs

down the track, and this time he gets closer to the pitch of the ball and is able to swing freely through the line to launch high over long-on again

15.2
6
Abdulla to Buttler, SIX runs

down the track, and that's a super strike. Keeps his shape even though Abdulla fired it shorter and more leg-sidish than he would have liked. Waited an instant longer and whipped it away, over the long-on boundary, and finished with his back foot in the air, a la Azhar or KP

15.1
Abdulla to Buttler, no run

fired in full on middle stump, Buttler squeezes it back to the bowler with a turn of his wrists

Over15
13 runs
MI 128/3CRR: 8.53  RRR: 8.60
Kieron Pollard 12 (8b 2x4)Jos Buttler 16 (10b 2x4)
Shane Watson0/26 (3)
14.6
4
Watson to Pollard, FOUR runs

bouncer outside off, top-edged pull, and it flies too fine for fine leg to stop it