MUMBAI Indians picked up their second win of the 2016 IPL thanks to some big hitting from Rohit Sharma, Jos Buttler and Kieron Pollard.Rohit Sharma produced another vital innings at the top of the order to lead defending champions Mumbai Indians to only their second win of the Indian Premier League against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The opener struck his second half-century of the competition as Mumbai successfully chased down their 171-run target with two overs to spare.
Rohit’s 62 off just 44 balls included four boundaries and three huge sixes, maintaining momentum in their chase before Jos Buttler (28) and Kieron Pollard (40 not out) finished the job off with some big hitting of their own.
Buttler showed glimpses of the form that has made him one of the hottest prospects in Twenty20, but he left it to Pollard to see Mumbai home, the West Indian peppering the boundary to complete a six-wicket win.
Mumbai won the toss and put RCB in to bat, but struggled to find a breakthrough as five of the Royal Challengers’ top six all contributed.
Without Chris Gayle it was left to AB de Villiers (29) and Virat Kohli (33) to lead the way and, although they both scored freely, the pair failed to push on.
It took a 63-run partnership between Travis Head (37) and Sarfaraz Khan (28) to lift them towards a competitive total.
Parthiv Patel (5) was dismissed early in Mumbai’s reply, but Rohit quickly took control with Ambati Rayudu (31), the pair combining for 76 runs and sending the ball to all corners of the Wankhede Stadium.
Captain Rohit reached his 50 off just 38 balls and he added another 12 runs before holing out to de Villiers in the deep at long on.
His departure could have affected Mumbai’s chase, but Buttler showed he was up for the fight with a 14-ball 28, including a 101-metre six off Iqbal Abdulla (3-40).
Focus then turned to Pollard and he revelled under the pressure with four fours and three maximums on his way to an unbeaten 40, his final boundary sealing a win that Mumbai will hope can spark their campaign into life. (Sportsmax.com)