Mumbai Indians beat Royal Challengers by 16 runs

Mumbai Indians defeat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 16 runs in their IPL match.

Riding on twin unbeaten half-centuries from Jean-Paul Duminy and Ajinkya Rahane,Mumbai Indians snapped their three-match losing streak with a convincing 16-run victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore in their Indian Premier League match.

Electing to bat,Mumbai posted a challenging 157 for two from their 20 overs,thanks to Duminy (59 not out) and Rahane (62 not out),and then restricted Bangalore to 141 for seven to record their fourth win from 10 matches and keep their semifinal hopes alive.

Mumbai’s good batting performance was complemented by their bowlers who bowled a tight line and length. Harbhajan Singh was the most successful bowler with 2/15 while Dhawal Kulkarni,Lasith Malinga,Dwayne Bravo and debutant Chetanya Nanda took a wicket apiece.

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Bangalore were never in the run chase,losing wickets in quick succession in the early overs and no substantial partnership to boast of — the highest being the 23 between openers Jacques Kallis and Virat Kohli.

Their top five batsmen — Kallis (12),Kohli (20),Robin Uthappa (4),Ross Taylor (16) and Rahul Dravid (10) — did not contribute much and Bangalore ended their 20 overs 16 short of Mumbai total.

Wicket-keeper Mark Boucher waged a lonely battle with a valiant unbeaten innings of 33-ball 48 which was the highest score for Bangalore.

Mumbai Indians skipper Sachin Tendulkar praised half centurions Jean-Paul Duminy (59 not out) and Ajinkya Rahane (62 not out) for taking their side to a challenging total of 157 for 7 though he attributed the victory to team effort.

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“Yeah,we needed this victory and all thanks to JP and Ajinkya. I thought they really batted well till the end.

Sanath (Jayasuriya) too did a good job. Our bowlers also bowled well. It was a good all-round performance by the team,” Tendulkar said.

“We really played well today. It was an all-round performance,batting,bowling and fielding everything was good,” added Tendulkar.

Man-of-the-match Duminy said he felt nice to contribute to the team’s success.

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“It’s always nice to get runs and the team winning. I thought it was a decent wicket,may be little bit on the slower side but I always thought 157 is going to be a challenging total,” he said.

Brief Scores:

Mumbai Indians: 157 for 2 in 20 overs (A Rahane 62 not out,JP Duminy 59 not out; R Merwe 1/17).

Royal Challengers Bangalore: 141 for 7 in 20 overs (Mark Boucher 49 not out; Harbhajan Singh 2/15.