IPL 2020, RCB v MI: 3 players who flopped | 28 September

The humdingers are back in business, after a number of one-sided games.

Just like last night's contest, the team batting first - Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in this game - piled on more than 200. The team chasing - Mumbai Indians (MI) - looked out of the game with only a few overs to go, after which they scored at a frenetic pace.

Unlike yesterday, the chasing team did not win, but we did witness a Super Over, which no viewer or writer minds!

The second similarity was a batsman playing an incredible innings and ending up on the losing team. Ishan Kishan, a young gun who has been in the MI setup for a few years now, hit one to the fielder in the final over after two sixes. It meant that his innings ended unceremoniously on 99, but it also meant there were runs left for Krunal Pandya and Kieron Pollard to overhaul.

Earlier, not only did RCB captain Kohli make a slew of changes to the playing XI, but also decided to bowl off-spinner Washington Sundar in the powerplay. The move paid immense rewards as Sundar got rid of MI skipper Rohit Sharma, but also tied down the batsmen till the 10th over, when he bowled out. He conceded a scarcely believable 12 runs from 4 overs when all others from both teams conceded a minimum of 7.5 an over.

It was not all smooth sailing, and several bowlers from both teams were put under the pump, particularly at the death. Some batting failures too were covered up by standout individual performances. Here, we look at 3 players who were not at their best on the night.

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#3 James Pattinson (MI)

Usually a smart operator, James Pattinson was taken apart.

MI opening bowler James Pattinson got an early exposure to what the IPL can treat bowlers to, after two successful outings in the previous games. He bowled up front, in the middle and at the death, and was somehow bowling specifically those overs where the RCB innings was gaining momentum.

In his powerplay overs, Pattinson was struck for a boundary apiece as the RCB openers gained confidence and put on a show with a solid opening stand. After a lull in scoring, the Australian came back in the 14th over where Devdutt Padikkal hit two sixes off his bowling to get the momentum back.

Pattinson had the difficult job of bowling the final over to two set RCB batsmen, and as it turned out, he was struck for three sixes to ensure he ended wicketless with 51 runs conceded.

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#2 Adam Zampa (RCB)

Adam Zampa did not trouble the batsmen too much in his first game.

Brought into the RCB playing XI to replace Umesh Yadav and give Virat Kohli an extra spin bowling option, there were high expectations from Adam Zampa. A player who first entered the RCB setup as a replacement for Kane Richardson, all eyes were on Zampa, who bowled well against England in the series played before the IPL.

However, he was unable to provide adequate support to Yuzvendra Chahal, who also conceded a lot of runs. At one stage, Zampa had taken the wicket of MI all-rounder Hardik Pandya and had given away under nine runs an over. He was called upon to bowl at the death with an in-form Kieron Pollard taking strike.

But Zampa was taken to the cleaners, with 27 runs coming off the over. He could have accounted for Pollard, but the catch was dropped and the Aussie leggie ended up conceding 53 on the night.

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#1 Virat Kohli (RCB)

Virat Kohli almost single-handedly dropped his team's scoring rate during his time at the crease.

RCB captain Virat Kohli is not having a good IPL. Not only did his team look lacklustre and his captaincy poor in the thumping versus KXIP, he is also personally struggling with the bat. Though the win should help the team's morale, there is grave introspection to be done about his batting form.

On the RCB batting card, all other batsmen today struck more than 1.3 runs to a ball. Kohli, however, managed a paltry 3 runs from 11 balls. The opening partnership for RCB was motoring along at nine an over, but after Kohli's dismissal, it plummeted to 7.38.

Padikkal, AB de Villiers and Shivam Dube saved RCB's blushes later - and Kohli struck the winning boundary in the Super Over - but the RCB skipper has a lot to think about ahead of the next game.