Mumbai: In a match of two third-wicket partnerships, the 140-run stand between Suryakumar Yadav and Nehal Wadhera prevailed over the 120-run effort by Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell as Mumbai Indians defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets in Match No 54 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at the Wankhede Stadium, here.
Suryakumar started on a sedate note after Ishan Kishan had given Mumbai Indians a whirlwind start with a 21-ball 42, and raced to his half-century in 26 balls. He raised 140 runs for the third wicket partnership with Wadhera (52 not out off 34 balls) in just 66 deliveries as Mumbai raced to 200/4 in 16.3 overs, chasing Royal Challengers Bangalore’s 199/6 in 20 overs built around blazing half-centuries by Faf du Plessis (65) and Glenn Maxwell (68).
Thanks to Suryakumar Yadav’s 83 and an unbeaten 52 by Wadhera, Mumbai twice survived double-strike overs by Wanindu Hasaranga and Vijaykumar Vyshak to race to their sixth win of the season and zoomed to the third spot in the points table with 12 points, behind Gujarat Titans (16) and Chennai Super Kings (13) and in a superb position to seal a place in the Playoffs if they win their next three matches.
Mumbai Indians started in whirlwind fashion thanks to Ishan Kishan who blasted a 21-ball 42 to give them a dream start. As his skipper Rohit Sharma, who returned to his opening slot after batting down the order against CSK, and watched from the other end, Ishan Kishan went hammer and tongs at the Royal Challengers Bangalore bowling, hitting four boundaries and four maximums during his superb knock.
Earlier, RCB suffered a wobble after Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell struck blazing half-centuries to raise 120 runs for the third wicket partnership.
