IPL 2019: 3 best matches in the MI vs RCB rivalry

Bangalore and Mumbai are the two cities that have been the face of Indian cricket. No team has won more titles in the domestic arena than these two, and what is even more fascinating is the fact that both the states have produced players who have combined together to form great duos.

From the likes of Gundappa Viswanath - Sunil Gavaskar, Rahul Dravid - Sachin Tendulkar, Javagal Srinath - Zaheer Khan to the present young brigade of Lokesh Rahul - Shreyas Iyer, their contribution to Indian cricket is immense. With the presence of such quality players on both sides, it is quite natural that the games between them will be fiercely contested.

With fans showing enormous interest towards the IPL, the matches from the RCB vs MI rivalry have added an extra flavor to the tournament. Over the years both teams have been involved in some enthralling encounters.

With IPL 2019 having got into the thick of the action, here's a look back at the top 3 matches between them.

#3 MI vs RCB, 2015 IPL, Match 46

Kohli - de Villiers partnership was worth 215 off 101 balls

Mumbai Indians faced Royal Challengers Bangalore in a crucial encounter as both were fighting hard to stay alive in the tournament. Batting first, RCB lost Gayle early which brought AB de Villiers to the crease.

De Villiers was tentative to start as he could score no runs in his first five balls. But what followed next was out of the world as he started scoring boundaries at will.

The way he was finding the gaps and maneuvering the field was like coaching in itself. He raced to 50 off 29 balls and went berserk after that.

De Villiers' big hitting was so flawless that his 133 off 59 balls completely overshadowed Virat Kohli's 50-ball 82.

Chasing an improbable 236 to win, Mumbai targeted boundaries from ball one. Lendl Simmons and Kieron Pollard tried hard to make a match out of it, but the target was too steep for the Mumbai Indians.

De Villiers' innings at Wankhede is widely considered one of the all-time best innings the league has ever seen.

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#2 MI Vs RCB, IPL 2013, Match 2

Gayle continued his form into the 2013 season

This was one of the most awaited matches of the 2013 edition of the IPL. The prospect of seeing Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar bat together for the first time was an exciting one.

Mumbai won the toss and asked Bangalore to bat first at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. They got off to a brilliant start, dismissing Tillakaratne Dilshan for a duck.

Virat Kohli scored a flurry of boundaries in his short stay before debutant Jasprit Bumrah snapped his wicket with a beautiful in-swinger. But Chris Gayle was unstoppable at the other end as his 92 anchored RCB to 156.

Mumbai were slow to start off as they could muster only 62 in the first 10. Spinners made the run chase even more difficult as Mumbai kept losing wickets at regular intervals.

Dinesh Karthik kept his team in the hunt with a responsible knock. With 10 needed off the last over and two set batsman at the crease, it seemed like Mumbai would cross over the line.

But Vinay Kumar picked both of them in successive deliveries to change the tide. Pollard failed to connect the final ball as Banglore won the match by two runs.

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#1 MI Vs RCB, IPL 2017, Match 12

Pollard scored 42 of his 70 runs in boundaries

2017 saw another thriller of a contest between these two teams in Bangalore.

RCB batted first on a slow wicket as the likes of Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers were finding it difficult to time the ball despite playing more than 20 balls. Kohli was the sole batsman to score freely as he took RCB to a respectable total of 142.

Kohli introduced Samuel Badree in the powerplay and he rattled the Mumbai batting line-up with a hat-trick. Mumbai were reeling at 7-4 when Kieron Pollard came out to bat. The West Indian was slow to start as he played out his countryman's overs.

He then formed a match-winning partnership with Krunal Pandya, and exploded in the last 10 overs. He scored 70 off just 47 balls to take his team to victory with an over to spare.

This was the first time that a team had won after losing four wickets for less than 10 runs in the history of the IPL.

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