5 memorable moments from RCB vs MI match that don't fade away

It seems like teams have found their grooves in this year’s IPL. After a start that oozed imbalance—with one half of the teams doing better than the other half—teams have finally settled down as they figure out their best combinations, hence making themselves difficult to beat.

As the erratic Mumbai Indians took on Dhoni’s underwhelming Pune, the odds were stacked evenly. At one point, it felt like Mahi would get the better of Rohit Sharma, but as it turned out, it was an easy win for the Mumbai Indians. With this loss, Pune are virtually out of the tournament while Mumbai Indians take a step forward towards the play off.

There were several memorable moments from the match that don't fade away, quite like the Axe Signature range of body perfumes. Here are 5 of the best:

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Lokesh Rahul turns everything into gold

When luck is in your favour, everything you touch turns to gold. Such is the case with Lokesh Rahul now. Claiming that he is lucky would be an insult to him, and truth be told, it is more than luck that is getting him to perform like this.

Among unknown faces, he has been the best batsman in the tournament and has further strengthened his place in that aspect.

With Gayle’s inclusion, he had to bat at number 4 and still he performed superbly. Playing 53 balls, he scored 68 runs to give his team a beacon of hope.

Krunal Pandya back in form

He began the tournament by taking it by storm with his all-round performances with Mumbai Indians. After that fine start, however, his form took a dip. He was no longer churning in performances that consistently asked Indian selectors the ultimate question.

However, against Royals Challengers Bangalore, he was back with a bang with his extraordinary spell of bowling on a track that had very little for him.

His spell of 4 overs bled only 15 runs while taking the prize wicket of AB de Villiers, who couldn’t smack him to save his life. His incredible spell got him the man of the match award.

Baby slogs

Lokesh Rahul revealed, a few days ago, that the team restrain from calling him ‘Baby’ in public because of the embarrassingly intricate situations it puts them in, especially if there are young women around. However, on the pitch, he shows no restrain at all as he slogged his way to a fine 25 off 13 balls.

Bangalore’s batting line up is so strong that they have never posted a score below 170 in this IPL. However, yesterday was an exception as they were in danger of not reaching the 140 mark. But the left-handed youngster shot his team to a respectable total, which, unfortunately, wasn’t enough in the end.

Rayudu’s anchoring

In T20s, the first requirement asked of a batsman is to score runs at a strike-rate of over 100 at least. Hence, whenever a batsman plays an innings that is below the aforementioned barrier, it brings more criticism than praise.

Ambati Rayudu played a similar innings yesterday, but it was one of those rare occasions when he got the light instead of gloom.

At a time when stability was the need of the hour, Rayudu obliged and played a knock of 44 runs in 47 runs. He might have consumed a lot of deliveries, but provided a great platform for the…

The Pollard and Buttler show

When two of the best hitters of the ball are batting at the same time, it is a privilege to watch. However, if both are on fire simultaneously, then it is a thing of transcendental delight.

And that is exactly what we witnessed when both Kieron Pollard and Jos Buttler spat fury with their bats.

The match was set to go to the last over as Mumbai needed 54 runs in the last 5 overs to get themselves over the line. In the end, the finished the game up with 8 balls to spare as Buttler smashed his way to a 11-ball 29 while Pollard raced to 35 off 19 balls.