The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) led by captain Virat Kohli were amongst the top 5 betting favorites who were expected to win the 2020 IPL Championship. RCB has never won an IPL Championship in the history of the tournament nor have they looked capable of winning an IPL Championship due to their poor performances.
Virat Kohli’s captaincy of RCB has come under the hammer in the past as RCB have always had a talented squad that failed to deliver for some reason or the other. Kohli and RCB have had a good start to the 2020 IPL after winning 2 out of their first 3 games.
They won their opening game against Sunrisers Hyderabad and then put in a poor performance against the Kings XI Punjab that saw RCB lose by 97 runs. Many expected RCB to lose their next game against defending champions Mumbai Indians on Sep 28 but surprisingly RCB pulled off a win in the super-over.
RCB vs. Mumbai Indians Results In Super Over
RCB batted first against the Mumbai Indians and got off to a good start as both openers notched up half centuries. A Finch made 52 of 35 balls while D Padikkal made 54 of 40 balls to give RCB a good platform. Captain V Kohli who failed with the bat in the first two games came in at 3 and struggled yet again.
Kohli was dismissed for 3 after playing 11 deliveries and it slowed down the momentum of the innings just a bit. However, AB Devilliers played a fantastic innings scoring 55 of 24 balls at a strike rate of 229 and Shivam Dube gave him good company at the other end scoring 27 of 10 balls at a strike rate of 270.
RCB were able to get to an impressive 201 in their allotted 20 overs to set Mumbai Indians a touch chase. W Sundar got rid of Mumbai Indians captain R Sharma for just 8 and bowled a fantastic spell where he gave away just 12 runs in his 4 overs. Mumbai Indians were struggling for a bit before Ishan Kishan And Kieron Pollard put together what looked like a match winning innings.
Kishan got out for 99 and fell short of a well-deserved century but Pollard remained unbeaten hitting 60 of 24 balls. Mumbai Indians also managed to get 201 in their allotted 20 overs to push the game into another super over.
RCB Win Super-Over Against Mumbai Indians
K Pollard and H Pandya opened the innings for Mumbai Indians in the super-over. It was a bit surprising to see R Sharma not coming out in the super over and in retrospect might regret that decision.
N Saini bowled a great over for RCB that turned out to be a match winning over. He kept Pollard silent and then dismissed him for 5. The Mumbai Indians could only score 7 runs in their super over.
Virat Kohli did what Rohit Sharma should have done and decided to open with AB Devilliers in the super-over. J Bumrah did a good job given the fact that he had only 7 to defend with and took it to the last ball. However, Kohli and Devilliers made sure they took RCB across the line and clinched a nail biting victory.
RCB Must Use Momentum
RCB now sit in third place on the IPL points table behind Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals. The next game for RCB is against the Rajasthan Royals on 3rd October and they will want to win this game and keep their momentum going.
It is very important for Kohli and RCB to get two wins in a row and push themselves into second place on the points table as it will give the entire RCB franchise a much needed confidence boost to win the 2020 IPL.
