The first match of the 14 th edition of IPL went the way, just as everyone expected it to happen. The clash between the defending champion Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore was, a cliffhanger that went right down to the wire. Moreover, it was a match worthy of sides led by the stalwarts of Indian cricket, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.
The decision of the match came on the final ball of the match, as RCB sealed the game by two wickets. Although, at one stage no one had expected the match to go this close. Certainly, not when Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell were cruising at one stage.
Chasing a modest target of 160, Royals experimented with their opening combination. The designated opener Devdutt Padikkal, was out of this match as he had just come out of the quarantine, and was not match ready. Hence, in his absence, another left hander Washington Sunder was given the chance to open the innings, alongside Virat Kohli.
The decision did not proved to be fruitful as Sunder, clearly struggled in his new role. He, could not time the ball at all as he scratched his way to 10 off 16. Then, he tried to hit his way out of the trouble and fell, to Krunal Pandya as Chris Lynn took an easy catch. The next batsman Rajat Patidar too, failed to impress and was dismissed for 8.
Glenn Maxwell, joined Kohli at number 4. The duo added 52 run, for the third wicket. Maxwell, particularly was severe on spinners as he hit, one six each to Krunal and Chahar. However, Kohli was sent back to the pavilion by Bumrah that, brought the Mumbai team back in control of the match.
Mini collapse of RCB
Maxwell, Shahzad Ahmed and Dan Christian too, fell in quick succession as 98-2 became 122-6. AB then, took the matter in his own hands and hit some lusty blows, to keep Mumbai on their toes. He, single handedly kept the hopes of his team alive.
At the end of 19 overs, Bangalore were at 153-7 and required just 7 runs to win, with AB and Patel at the crease. It appeared an easy victory for RCB, with the inexperienced Jansen set to bowl the final over.
Epic final over!
The first ball was a perfect Yorker as only a single came from ABs bat.
Second ball was carved through covers for a brace.
Third ball was a low full toss and driven to mid off for a single. This is where the drama began.
The next ball was flicked to mid wicket, and AB in a bid to keep the strike chanced a double, which was not possible. The throw from Krunal was spot on, and AB was run out by some distance despite diving full length.
Now 2 runs were required off 2 balls, and Mohammad Siraj came to the crease. Consequently, the pressure was on both the teams. Siraj, although got an easy one on the pads, as he tried to glance it but missed. However, he ran for a bye and the scores, were level.
With just one to win on the final ball, even a Yorker from Jansen wasn’t good enough. Patel, got some bat and ran to complete the single and victory for his team.
Mumbai continued their trend of losing the first game of the season, and Bangalore opened their account with win.
Watch the video of final over here.
