Suryakumar Yadav rescues MI with half-century v RCB

MI batsman SuryaKumar Yadav en route his unbeaten 37-ball 68 against RCB at the MCA Stadium in Pune on Saturday. Pic/BCCI; IPL

Mumbai Indians' batting at this IPL is falling into a certain pattern. They have one or two brilliant individual performances, mostly at the start and towards the end, and lose heaps of wickets in between.

Saturday evening's game against RCB at the MCA Stadium here was no exception, as the Rohit Sharma-led unit laboured to a below par 151 for 6 after being put in to bat. At the time of going to press, RCB were 30-0 after six overs.

And if not for a high quality half-century from Suryakumar Yadav, the total would have looked even worse. Mumbai Indians began well, with skipper Rohit Sharma playing some delightful strokes in the Powerplay. A solid block off Mohammed Siraj that went between the bowler and mid-on for four, and an equally well-timed flick off the same bowler to the midwicket boundary brought the 20,000-plus crowd on their feet.

Rohit's 15-ball 26 helped MI to 49 for no loss by the end of Powerplay. That should have been a perfect platform for a middle-order that looks destructive on paper to take MI to a big total. But what unfolded was quite disappointing for the Mumbai Indians fans.

Harshal Patel deceived Rohit with a slower off-cutter and comfortably took the return catch off the second ball after the Powerplay. That was followed by a dramatic collapse.

Wanindu Hasaranga caught Dewald Brevis right in front of his middle stump with a well-disguised googly in the ninth over; Ishan Kishan, who struggled for timing throughout his knock, was caught at third-man boundary off Akash Deeep in the next over. Tilak Varma went for a suicidal single and was run out for a duck in the same over and then Hasaranga caught Kieron Pollard in front of the wicket off another beautifully delivered googly. In the space of 11 balls, Mumbai Indians lost four wickets for just two runs.