Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, 1st Match - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

Series: Indian Premier League 2021 Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai Date & Time: Apr 09, 07:30 PM LOCAL

Who will finish on top? © BCCI/IPL

RCB clinch a last ball thriller!

AB de Villiers' blitz in the end proved to be decisive, particularly after he successfully went after both Boult and Bumrah, but it was not without thrills. De Villiers was run out two runs away from victory with as many balls left. But Siraj and Harshal Patel managed to squeeze out two runs off the final two deliveries bowled by Marco Jansen. And that seals a memorable win for RCB, who have hit the ground running with some of their key problem-areas being filled in superbly.

WICKET: Bumrah gets another

Dan Christian does not make much of an impact. He tries to ride the bounce on a short one and cut it down but finds the man at point. RCB are stuttering now with the finish line not too far away.

Jansen strikes twice!

Maxwell and Shahbaz Ahmed fall in the same over. Jansen has Maxwell turning a catch down to short fine leg and then has Ahmed pulling to deep square leg. RCB have lost three in no time and are suddenly stumbling.

WICKET: Bumrah bags Kohli

Rohit Sharma turned to his strike bowler just as RCB were threatening to run away with the game, and he delivers perfectly. Kohli walks across his stumps and is hit high on the front pad and in line with the stumps, falls for a 29-ball 33.

48 4

MI restricted in the powerplay

Only 41 has come in the powerplay for MI, 10 off which came in the final over bowled by Chahal. RCB wouldn't mind this rate having opted to bowl.

WICKET: Rohit is run out!

A mix-up between Lynn and Rohit sees the latter depart. Lynn tapped the ball to the left of Kohli at cover and started for a quick single but stopped midway leaving Rohit stranded and run out comfortably.

There are two debutants for MI. One of them was 17-year old net bowler in South Africa who got the nod of approval of Kohli. Here's the fascinating story of Marco Jansen.

TOSS: RCB OPT TO BOWL

Teams:

Mumbai Indians (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma(c), Chris Lynn, Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan(w), Hardik Pandya, Kieron Pollard, Krunal Pandya, Rahul Chahar, Marco Jansen, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah

Royal Challengers Bangalore (Playing XI): Virat Kohli(c), Rajat Patidar, AB de Villiers(w), Glenn Maxwell, Daniel Christian, Washington Sundar, Kyle Jamieson, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Shahbaz Ahmed, Yuzvendra Chahal

The lead up

Well, here we are once again. Amidst a pandemic, the cricket circus rolls on and as we await the 14th edition of the tournament, there is a lot of wariness surrounding the tournament. The bio-secure bubbles have seemingly become fallible, and there are murmurs of the safety of it all.

But amidst that circumspection, the tournament is readying to renew rivalries. Can anyone stop the Mumbai Indians juggernaut? Theirsuccess has been the product of some smart work down the years. And it continues to this day, as is the case with the Ishan Kishan-Mahela Jaywardene relationship.

Their opposition for the opening game have a history of delivering less than promised. But will a new addition connect the missing link?

Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma - who is going to come up trumps?