IPL 2018: Mohammed Siraj and Tim Southee made sure RCB's death bowling finally came alive against MI

Virat Kohli could be excused a sense of deja vu. For the second time in the current edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), his premier fast bowler was on a hat-trick; for the second time, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) had taken the field hoping to avoid their third successive loss, and for the second time against Mumbai Indians (MI) this season, they had scored 167. However, unlike their last meeting against the defending champions, RCB came out trumps on Tuesday, by virtue of which, Virat Kohli’s men have now climbed to fifth place on the points table.

RCB defeated MI by 14 runs to notch their third win of IPL 2018 on Tuesday. AFP

This was by far RCB’s best bowling performance of the season. They restricted a strong MI line-up to 153/7 — the least they have conceded this year. Their biggest bugbear — death overs' bowling — witnessed a complete overhaul on an uncharacteristic Chinnaswamy surface as Tim Southee and Mohammed Siraj unleashed a flurry of yorkers on Hardik and Krunal Pandya. In their last four overs, RCB gave away only 30 runs beside getting rid of the Pandya brothers to put the target completely out of MI's reach.

Tim Southee, playing only his second match of IPL 2018, dealt the first blow in the first over of MI's chase, getting rid of Ishan Kishan. Umesh Yadav, whose incisive opening spells have been in complete contrast to his death bowling, once again thrived on the freshness of the pitch. His two wickets included the in-form Suryakumar Yadav and the dangerous Rohit Sharma off successive balls. Crucially, Yadav sent across 11 dot balls - priceless when teams are defending middling totals.

Yuzvendra Chahal was impressive once again. The wily leg-spinner used the bite in the pitch to good effect, extracting sharp turn and squaring up right-handed batsmen more than once. He didn't get a wicket, but 14 dot balls and an economy of 5.75 ensured MI couldn't find a release in the middle overs.

Rohit Sharma's men would still have fancied themselves to raze down the target in the end-overs, considering Yadav and Chahal were bowled out by the 15th over. With MI needing 62 runs off 30 balls, Kohli gave 16th over to Colin de Grandhomme. The Kiwi all-rounder, who had not bowled in the previous two matches reportedly due to back issues, had delivered two neat overs up to that point, but his third yielded 17 runs. From 62 off 30, the equation read 45 off 24.

It would not be entirely preposterous to assume that Kohli would have had his doubts as he tossed the ball to Siraj to deliver the 17th over. RCB have been in this situation before - their best bowlers had completed their quota, Washington Sundar had failed again, the inevitable expensive over had arrived at the back end of the innings, and death overs were set to spell 'murder' of his fast bowlers' confidence. Moreover, Siraj's infamous meltdown at the sight of MS Dhoni just two matches before must be fresh in his mind.

Siraj, however, tagged up beautifully with the experienced Tim Southee and the duo conceded only 15 runs apiece in next four overs to all but knock MI out of playoffs contention. The key here was the length the two fast bowlers stuck to. They relied on tried and tested full-and-wide line and length, and topped it with judicious changes in pace to keep Hardik and Krunal on the tenterhooks.

RCB's fielding, that skipper Kohli had termed 'criminal' after their last match, was top class too. Hardik fell to an excellent catch by Kohli in the outfield, JP Duminy was sent back by a direct hit from Umesh Yadav, and the New Zealand imports - Colin de Grandhomme and Brendon McCullum - guarded the fences admirably in the death.

Earlier, Manan Vohra, with scores of 2 and 0 in his only outings for RCB this season, gave hosts the headstart in the powerplay. Rohit Sharma opened the attack with off-spinner JP Duminy, perhaps to strangle left-hander Quinton de Kock, but Vohra took full toll on Duminy in the South African's second over that went for 22 runs. His 31-ball 45 was worth much more in the context of the match, and it would be interesting to see if Kohli can slot him in the playing XI when AB de Villiers returns from illness.

Also, Colin de Grandhomme lived up to his reputation of a big-hitting all-rounder after Hardik Pandya's barely-believable two-run, three-wicket over - 18th of RCB's innings - looked to have sealed the home team's fate. The right-hander hit Mitchell McClenaghan for three sixes in the 24-run final over that swung the momentum towards RCB, and fellow Kiwi Tim Southee ensured it stayed with RCB with a wicket in the first over.

The win keeps RCB's chances of making it to the playoffs alive, though Kohli would be concerned with the form of Washington Sundar and de Kock. They now travel to Pune on Saturday where table-toppers Chennai Super Kings, and a chance for redemption, awaits.

Updated Date: May 02, 2018 02:22 PM