Rohit, Lewis ensure first win for MI

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma plays a shot during the IPL 2018 match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhade in Mumbai on April 17, 2018.

Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma plays a shot during the IPL 2018 match against Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Wankhade in Mumbai on April 17, 2018.   | Photo Credit: PTI

Kohli’s heroics fail to take RCB home

Umesh Yadav may have silenced the Wankhede Stadium by striking twice in as many balls at the start of the match. For the next 118 balls, though, Evin Lewis and captain Rohit Sharma ensured that Mumbai Indians (MI) created a strong base in order to chase and end its winless run in the Indian Premier League (IPL)’s 11th edition.

If Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) had to overhaul a stiff target of 214, the duo of Virat Kohli and A.B. de Villiers had to repeat the heroics of 2015 at the same venue, when an unbroken 215-run partnership batted Mumbai Indians out of the game.

Considering the quick-fire partnership between Suryakumar Yadav and Lewis against the Daredevils three days ago, MI decided to stick with Rohit’s No. 4 position in the batting order. However, when he joined Lewis in the middle, it appeared as if he was virtually opening the innings.

After all, Umesh had bowled two full incoming delivering to uproot the stumps of both Suryakumar and left-hander Ishan Kishan.

Umesh missed the line off the hat-trick ball with Rohit running a single after the ball ricocheted off his pads. He started the onslaught by driving Chris Woakes in the second over and followed it up with a pull that landed in the upper tier.

 

The in-form Lewis then took over, gliding a short ball from Umesh to the on-side fence in the next over. Kohli then introduced spin but Rohit and Lewis welcomed Washington Sundar with 19 runs in his first over.

Even after plundering 60 in the Powerplay, the duo didn’t stop. While Lewis started clearing the cow corner at will, Rohit took the back seat.

The Caribbean enthralled the crowd by raising his maiden IPL 50 with a six over mid-wicket off leggie Yuzvendra Chahal. He followed it up with successive sixes off the same bowler before mistiming a pull off all-rounder Corey Anderson, making his RCB debut, to hand Quinton de Kock a skier.

Rohit then took centre-stage as he opened his shoulders. The bowler didn’t matter as Rohit literally scored at will.

At the start of the last over, the Mumbai captain was batting on 80. After fetching 14 runs off the first four balls and helping MI cross the 200-run mark, Rohit was in with a chance to score a hundred. But he finally mistimed one, handing Woakes a regulation catch at long-on. He may have missed a hundred by a solitary hit but the captain’s knock certainly had placed MI in a handy position to earn its first points of the season.