When the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) won their opening game of this season, it has been the first time since 2016 that they managed to do so in the first match of a season. Hence, it seemed like this year would be different. However, they came crashing down as they were thrashed by Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), losing by a massive margin.
The three-time finalists faced defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) in their third game. MI is one team that RCB don’t have a great record playing against. However, Virat Kohli and his men came out all guns blazing.
After being put in to bat by Rohit Sharma, RCB racked up 201 batting first. Aaron Finch and Devdutt Padikkal gave RCB a flying start. The duo shared an 81-run stand for the opening partnership and it came in just nine overs. But Finch’s wicket followed by Virat Kohli’s struggle with the bat slowed things a bit before AB de Villiers and Devdutt got going again. While it was a usual business for the South African great, Padikkal continued to impress and scored his second fifty (in three games) of the tournament. The duo combined with Shivam Dube’s towering sixes in the last over propelled RCB to 201 in their 20 overs.
In addition, they were very good with the ball for the most part of the game before Ishan Kishan and Kieron Pollard turned the things around with some power hitting. The match was tied but RCB held their nerve to win the Super Over. Navdeep Saini was the star with the ball as he conceded just seven runs in the Super Over and in the end, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers took the game deep and wrapped it up on the last ball, giving RCB two crucial points.
Looking back, Washington Sundar’s returns of 1/12 from his four overs proved to be extremely crucial. The Tamil Nadu off-spinning all-rounder bowled three overs in the powerplay, conceded a mere seven runs and picked up one wicket, that of the MI skipper, Rohit Sharma.
“Feeling really good, I did some planning coming to this game, and I was very happy I was given this role and I enjoy bowling in the Powerplay. Very glad that the captain has got so much confidence and the management. The challenge is to keep doing this, there are still a lot more games coming up and I should be able to do this and win games for the RCB,” Washington Sundar said in the post-match press conference.
In his four overs, Sundar bowled as many as 12 dot balls and took one wicket. Moreover, he did not concede a single boundary in his spell. It eventually turned out to be a match-winning spell for RCB. Sundar has been a part of RCB since the beginning of the 2018 season. Yet, he hasn’t been a regular member of the side and, including the three games this season, has played just 13 matches. However, this performance should give him and the team management a lot of confidence.
With this win, the Bangalore franchise has surged to the third place in the points table with four points (two wins and one loss). However, their net run rate of -1.450 is the worst among all teams. However, the two close wins should give them confidence going ahead in the tournament. Virat Kohli-led side face Rajasthan Royals in their next game which is scheduled to take place on 3 October and that will be the first day game of the tournament.