IPL 2017, MI vs RCB: 5 things that went wrong for RCB

#2 Lack of partnerships in the middle overs

Negi’s late surge helped RCB to a competitive total after the failure of the middle order

The formidable batting unit of the Royal Challengers Bangalore continued to struggle in the tenth edition of the tournament as they lost half their side within 14 overs of play. The Challengers failed to build a strong platform in the middle overs as they lost wickets at regular intervals.

The three crucial wickets in the middle overs dented the scoring rate and eventually resulted in them posting a below-par score.

They lost the wicket of Travis Head on the third ball of the 11^th over, with the score reading 85 runs, to poor shot selection. It was followed up by the wicket of AB de Villiers in the 13^th over as the South African tried to slog sweep Krunal Pandya only managing to top edge it for a simple catch to Bumrah at short fine leg. In the very next over, Shane Watson was cleaned up by Jasprit Bumrah to reduce the visitors to 108 for 5.

The batsmen failed to apply themselves and lack of partnerships in the middle overs prevented the visitors from posting a huge first innings total.