New Delhi: Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) bounced back from Friday’s crushing loss to Rajasthan Royals (RR) emphatically to continue their title defence charge with an 18-run win over Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Defending champions Challengers overcame a slight stutter after the loss against table-toppers Royals with their third win of the campaign, while MI suffered their third successive loss to remain in the bottom half of the table.
Asked to bat first, RCB continued their domination with the bat to post a massive 240/4 in 20 overs. Phil Salt finally came good after three failures, smashing a blazing 36-ball 78 while Patidar continued his remarkable run en route to his 20-ball 53 to set the perfect platform for a big total.
Collective batting effort helps RCB script IPL history
Virat Kohli (38-ball 50) and Tim David (34 not out off 16 balls) also made useful contributions as RCB scripted history by becoming the first team in the history of IPL to score 299+ totals in each of their opening four matches of a campaign.
After putting on a magnificent batting display, RCB restricted the five-time champions to 222/5 to claim a convincing win. MI’s top order failed to deliver collectively, and if not for Sherfane Rutherford’s blistering 31-ball 70 not out with nine maximums, the hosts would have struggled to cross the 200-run mark.
After defending the 241-run target, RCB moved level with Chennai Super Kings at the top of an all-time list. This was the 23rd time RCB successfully defended a 200+ total, the same number of matches as CSK. MI and Sunrisers Hyderabad are second in the list with 18 wins while defending 200+ scores, while Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) have 15 wins to their names while defending 200+ targets.
Most wins while defending 200-plus in IPL
23 – CSK
23 – RCB*
18 – MI, SRH
15 – RR, KKR
The win consolidated RCB’s position in the top four of the points table, which is led by RR (1st) and Punjab Kings (2nd), the only two unbeaten teams in the ongoing tournament.
Meanwhile, MI, the five-time champions, are languishing at the eighth spot ahead of CSK (9th) and KKR (10th).