An astonishing century by AB de Villiers helped Royal Challengers Bangalore to a convincing 39-run win over Mumbai Indians, giving them a great chance of qualifying for the IPL play-offs.
Bangalore named an unchanged team, with Chris Gayle looking to repeat his extraordinary century in the last game against Kings XI Punjab, while Mumbai brought in the bowlers Lasith Malinga and Jasprit Bumrah, who replaced Vinay Kumar.
Bangalore rode their luck early on, having to rely on two pieces of calamitous fielding to survive. First, Mumbai’s captain, Rohit Sharma, dropped a simple chance off Mitchell McClenaghan, after Chris Gayle hit the ball straight up in the air, then the very next ball Virat Kohli edged to Harbhajan Singh at slip, only for the spinner to drop that too, leaving the bowler screaming in frustration.
However, their fortune didn’t last long, as off the first ball of the following over Gayle got a thick edge to a Malinga slower ball, that Lendl Simmons dived full-length at gully, taking an absolutely sensational diving catch, flinging himself through the air to his left.
That brought AB de Villiers to the crease, who along with the captain, Virat Kohli, put on a batting masterclass, combining glorious delicacy with astonishing power to compile a partnership of 215, and end on a total of 235 for one. Kohli batted superbly, scoring 82 runs from 50 balls, but even his excellence was a mere supporting act to the genius of De Villiers, the South African hitting 133 from 59, including 19 fours and four sixes, to record his second Twenty20 century and the third-highest IPL score.
Despite the run-out of Parthiv Patel, Mumbai started their reply well, with Simmons, Sharma and Kieron Pollard putting the Bangalore bowlers to the sword in the early stages, with the big West Indies all-rounder hitting 49 from 24 balls, and Simmons batting right through to the end with 68.
However, the total proved too much, with no other batsmen able to stay with Simmons and a clatter of wickets meant their run chase petered out in the end, finishing on a total of 196 for seven, losing by 39 runs.
Bangalore are now fourth in the points table, and have put themselves in a good position to qualify for the play-offs. Mumbai, having played a game more than many of the teams around them, are sixth and will face a tough scrap to make the latter stages.
