IPL 2022: 3 observations from RCB's seven-wicket win over MI

Mumbai Indians (MI) continue to wait for their first win in IPL 2022. On Saturday, the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) added to Mumbai's misery with a seven-wicket win over them at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.

Suryakumar Yadav's masterclass with the bat wasn't enough as Mumbai were outplayed by some flamboyant batting from a young Anuj Rawat and Virat Kohli. These performances allowed them to chase down 152 with nine balls to spare.

Barring Mohammed Siraj, the rest of the RCB bowlers nailed their lengths and chipped away at the MI batting line-up. In reply, Bangalore opted to go with a measured approach and that paid dividends.

There was a bit of drama in the end with Dewald Brevis dismissing Kohli but Glenn Maxwell slammed two hits to the fence to see his side home. Here are our observations from the RCB vs MI game.

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#1 Suryakumar Yadav is MI's asset. Period

With Mumbai stuttering at 62/5, all eyes were on Suryakumar Yadav, who was fresh off a fifty against Kolkata, and he didn't disappoint. There were no nerves either, as he dished out another fifty — an unbeaten 37-ball-68 studded with five fours and six sixes.

What stood out was his nimble footwork against spin and his fast hands while dealing with the seamers. He picked apart Mohammed Siraj for 21 runs in the 19th over. Despite Harshal Patel troubling him in the final over, he made up for it with a six off the last ball.

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#2 Anuj Rawat finally gets the innings he needs for RCB

After an impressive start against the Punjab Kings (PBKS), RCB's new opener Anuj Rawat went off the boil in the next two games. But the young batsman bounced back with a solid innings against Mumbai.

His 47-ball-66 was studded with 2 fours and 6 sixes as he looked unperturbed throughout his innings. This was despite his fellow opener and skipper Faf du Plessis playing a rather uncharacteristic slow innings.

This was perhaps the confidence boost Rawat needed to back those rave reviews the franchise's big guns gave him ahead of the start of the tournament.

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#3 MI's inability to pick wickets is a concern

After prizing out du Plessis, Mumbai struggled to pick up wickets and find those breakthroughs. Kohli and Rawat found gaps and boundaries and also benefitted from mis-fields as they built a solid 80-run partnership that took the game away from the opposition.

With four consecutive losses, the side will take a long, hard look at how they will mount a comeback. While they are known to be perennial slow starters, this loss will sting them.