IPL 2022: Suryakumar dazzles but Mumbai slip to fourth loss

Suryakumar Yadav hit an unbeaten 68 but his Mumbai Indians team fell to their fourth successive loss of this season’s IPL as they went down to Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday.

The swashbuckling Suryakumar lifted Mumbai from 79-6 to 151-6 but the total barely tested Faf du Plessis’ Bangalore who achieved their target with nine balls and seven wickets to spare in Pune.

Up and coming Indian talent Anuj Rawat hit 66 and put on 80 runs with Virat Kohli (48) to guide the team, who hunt for their maiden Indian Premier League title, to their third win in four games.

Five-time champions Mumbai remain winless so far along with holders Chennai Super Kings who also suffered their fourth loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad in the first match of the day in Mumbai.

“Definitely not a 150-run pitch, Surya showed us you can do that if you bat sensibly. Credit to Surya, but we knew it wasn’t going to be enough,” Mumbai skipper Rohit Sharma said.

Mumbai started strongly with an opening stand of 50 between Rohit and Ishan Kishan — both scored 26 — before pace bowler Harshal Patel and Sri Lankan spinner Wanindu Hasaranga rattled the batting.

But Suryakumar, who hit five fours and six sixes in his 37-ball knock, kept up the fight till the finish as he raised his 50 in a 23-run 19th over from Mohammed Siraj.

Harshal ended with figures of 2-23 and Hasaranga also took two wickets including the big-hitting Kieron Pollard, for nought, with his leg spin. In reply, Bangalore lost du Plessis for 16 but Rawat, a left-handed batter, took the attack to the opposition as he hit sixes in his 47-ball blitz before being run out.

Kohli fell two short of his fifty after being trapped lbw off South African leg-spinner Dewald Brevis but looked unhappy with his dismissal after his umpire review was turned down.

“Mumbai are a quality team and we had excellent bowling for atleast 18 overs. There was something in it for the bowlers in the first innings. We didn’t want to give them a good start. Rohit played some good shots but his wicket was valuable. Akash Deep bowled really good tonight. It was just one of those nights, where you mix bowlers around and they keep getting wickets,” said du Plessis.

Du Plessis also showered praise on Rawat.

“I spoke about him before the tournament, he has potential and we talk a lot to develop game awareness. He comes down the wicket, shows intent, he’s a very good player for the future,” he said.

Meanwhile, Man of the Match Rawat said: “It feels great to score runs in a winning match. I was just following the process. I was not being able to connect in other games, today (Saturday) did it well. I hope for many more to come. RCB team has given us confidence but they have backed me even when I couldn’t finish the game. I’m enjoying the company of Virat bhaiya and Faf.”