3 memorable matches between Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore in Mumbai

Mumbai Indians will take on Royal Challengers Bangalore at the iconic Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday night. This promises to be an exciting encounter as both teams will be looking to win after suffering defeats in their last respective games. Mumbai Indians, in particular, would be desperate to win as they have lost all three games they have played until now.

On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bangalore would want to show a better performance with the ball after the hammering they received from the Rajasthan Royals batsmen.

When it comes to head to head statistics, the two sides have clashed against each other on 21 occasions, out of which Mumbai Indians have the upper hand by winning 13 games. At Wankhede Stadium both the teams have faced against each other on 7 occasions in which Mumbai Indians have won 4 games to 3 games by Royal Challengers.

Let us look at 3 memorable encounters between both teams.

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#3 RCB chase down the target in the last over – 2008

This was during the inaugural edition of Indian Premier League (2008) and the first time both the teams clashed against each other. Electing to bat first, Mumbai Indians didn’t have an ideal start, losing opener Luke Ronchi in the second over. Dominic Thornely was retired hurt for 0 after he mistimed a short ball onto the grill of the bowling of Zaheer Khan, which hurt his nose.

However, Robin Uthappa scored runs at ease before he was stumped by Mark Boucher of the bowling of Balachandra Akhil for a well made 48. Late order contributions from the likes of Abhishek Nayar (20) and Shaun Pollock (28) helped Mumbai reach a challenging total of 165/6 in the allotted 20 overs.

Zaheer Khan and Akhil were the pick of the bowlers for RCB with 2 wickets each.

In reply, Bangalore openers, Shiv Chanderpaul and skipper Rahul Dravid, got the team off to a good start. Shiv Chanderpaul was the first batsman to be dismissed for 16 and Bangalore were 37-1 by the end of 5 overs. Ross Taylor (23), Virat Kohli (23) and Jacques Kallis (25) have made decent contributions but couldn’t continue their good starts.

However the innings of the match came for Mark Boucher (39* of 19 balls), his innings turned the game in the favor of Royal Challengers and they reached the target on the penultimate ball of the 20 over.

RCB won the game by 5 wickets and for his game-changing 39 of 19 balls, Mark Boucher was awarded Man of the Match.

#2 Dwayne Smith’s 50 & Dhawal Kulkarni’s 3-fer set up a famous win for Mumbai - 2013

On a good batting surface, under the lights, Mumbai Indians elected to bat first. Despite losing Sachin Tendulkar for 23 (29-1) in the 4th over, Dwayne Smith and Dinesh Karthik scored runs at a quick pace.

They added 68 runs for the second wicket before Smith was out LBW of the bowling of off-spinner Syed Mohammad for a quick fire 50.

Rohit Sharma was run out for 10 and Mumbai were 3-118. Dinesh Karthik carried his good form, and him along with Kieron Pollard struck a good 51 run partnership before Karthik was run-out by Kohli for 43.

Kohli Boo-ed by Wankhede crowd

Dinesh Karthik was run-out on the second ball of 17th over. On the very next ball, Ambati Rayudu was run out as he was trying to get back to the crease but in doing so, he collided with the bowler Vinay Kumar, which resulted in his bat getting lifted into the air, while the ball hit the stumps of a direct hit from Kohli.

This was purely unintentional but a displeased Rayudu walked back to the pavilion. An irate Wankhede crowd boo-ed Kohli and the North Stand chanted “Cheater Cheater” showing their displeasure.

In the end, Mumbai Indians reached 194/7 in their allotted 20 overs, thanks to cameos by Harbhajan Singh (16 of 10) and Mitchell Johnson (9 of 5).

In reply to Mumbai’s 194, RCB had a good start until Dilshan edged one to Mitchell Johnson of the bowling of Dhawal Kulkarni in the 6th over. Harbhajan Singh picked up the prized wicket of Chris Gayle who was caught near the boundary rope at deep wide long-on by Ambati Rayudu.

Continuing his dream spell, Dhawal Kulkarni claimed the all-important wickets of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers to deny RCB any chance of winning. RCB were tottering at 4-43 at 7.4 overs. Ravi Rampaul’s 23 and Vinay Kumar’s 26 added some respectability to RCB’s eventual score of 136/7 in 20 overs.

In the end, RCB lost the game by 58 runs and for his breezy 50 of 36 balls, Dwayne Smith was awarded Man of the Match.

#1 ABD’s breathtaking 133 help RCB win in a high scoring encounter – 2015

Batting first on a batting paradise on a Sunday afternoon, RCB lost Chris Gayle on the first ball of the fourth over for 13. At 20-1 skipper Virat Kohli was joined by AB de Villiers and what followed was absolute carnage.

The pair took on the Mumbai bowlers and thrashed them all over the Wankhede Stadium. Virat Kohli and ABD lit up the Wankhede Stadium as both the batsman smashed the hapless Mumbai bowlers into oblivion. Both the batsman added an unbeaten 215 runs for the second wicket and carried their bats through the innings.

Virat Kohli’s 82* comprised of 6 boundaries and 4 maximums, while ABD’s 133* of 59 balls comprised of 19 boundaries and 4 hits over the fence. By the end of 20 overs, RCB put up a mammoth score of 235/1 in the allotted 20 overs.

The Mumbai crowd enjoyed the spending batting display and stood up and clapped both the legends as they walked off the field after the end of the innings.

Chasing an improbable 236 in 20 overs, the Mumbai batsmen put a valiant effort into chasing the target. Lendyl Simmons carried his bat throughout the innings for a well made 68* of 53 balls. Kieron struck few lusty blows before getting out for 49 of 24 deliveries.

In the end, Mumbai reached 196/7 falling short by 39 runs. Harshal Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal picked up 2 wickets each while Mitchell Starc and Srinath Arvind shared 1 wicket apiece.

RCB won the game by 39 runs and or his thunderous knock of 133 of 59 deliveries, AB de Villiers was awarded Man of the Match.