Mumbai/Jaipur: Brilliant batting display by Dwayne Smith, Dinesh Karthik and Keiron Pollard followed by some fantastic bowling led by Mitchell Johnson and Lasith Malinga helped Mumbai Indians maul Royal Challengers Bangalore by 58 runs at Wankhade Stadium here on Saturday.
Setting an impossible target of 195 runs, Mumbai restricted Bangalore to 136 for seven in 20 overs.
Batting first, Mumbai rode on the knocks of Dwayne Smith (50) and Kieron Pollard (34), with Dinesh Karthik (43) complementing them to help the side close in on the 200-run mark.
Later Lasith Malinga and Mitchell Johnson bowled superbly to build pressure on the opposition which Dhawal Kulkarni and Harbhajan Singh used it to perfection later. Kulkarni, who was playing the first match of this season, rattled the RCB top-order with three wickets.
Chasing a daunting target, Bangalore got off to a disastrous start as they lost their top four batsmen within the eighth over. Kulkarni justified his selection by giving Mumbai the first breakthrough as he got rid of Tillakaratne Dilshan in his first over. Soon Harbhajan Singh got rid of the danger-man Chris Gayle in the next over as the West Indian holed out in the deep where Ambati Rayudu pulled off a brilliant catch.
Kulkarni struck again in his second over as he packed off Bangalore skipper Virat Kohli (1) and South African AB de Villiers (2) in two balls. And after RCB lost Arun Karthik in the 11th over, it was always going to be a big ask for the tail-enders to chase the big total with ever increasing run-rate.
Earlier in the day, a fantastic bowling from James Faulkner (5/20) followed by yet another astounding knock from Shane Watson (53-ball 98) helped Rajasthan Royals beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight wickets at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Chasing a modest 145-run target, Rajasthan achieved the target with 2.1 overs to spare.
Batting first, Hyderabad had a disastrous start but recovered well to post 144 for nine after Darren Sammy played a heroic 60-run knock and shared a crucial 58-run stand with Amit Mishra (21) for the seventh wicket.
Rajasthan too lost Ajinkya Rahane early and were cautious till the half-way mark as they reached 53 for one in 10 overs. However, Watson carried on his form and soon picked up the Hyderabad bowlers to score at his will. In the 11th over when both Watson and skipper Rahul Dravid hit spinner Amit Mishra for a six each, collecting 17 runs and there was no looking back thereafter.
Though RR lost Dravid with 64 runs still needed, it was all Watson show thereafter as he 56 of the remaining runs.
