A big win for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). They left no room for the home team, Mumbai Indians (MI), to get back into the contest. In all aspects of Sunday’s match at the Wankhede Stadium, RCB achieved a big victory against MI.
RCB were instantly in the front seat after the conclusion of the first innings, having scored 240 runs in 120 balls for the loss of 4 wickets. It wasn’t just about a win or getting 2 points, but also about making a statement from the defending champions.
A resounding victory for Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB)
In the previous match of the ongoing IPL 2026, the Rajat Patidar-led team suffered a humiliating defeat at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati. They were determined to bounce back with a resounding victory and they did just that. They did it by maintaining a proper plan. RCB not only batted very well against Mumbai Indians but also did not allow MI batsmen to operate freely in the second innings.
MI middle-order batsman Sherfane Rutherford pulled out all the stops to achieve a shock victory. At one point in the second innings, even a total of 200 were sought from the goal by the Mumbai batsmen. With the explosive hitting of the Caribbean batsman, they responded to RCB with 222 runs in 20 overs, while Bengaluru’s score was 240.
RCB won the match by 18 runs. Sherfane Rutherford remained unbeaten for 71 runs, playing 31 runs. He only had one 4, but he smashed a staggering nine 6s, bringing his hit rate to 229.03.
Mumbai Indians batsman Sherfane Rutherford took the team close to the target.
According to Cricbuzz statistics, Sherfane Rutherford’s 71* (31) is the second-highest score for MI while batting at No. 6 or below after Hardik Pandya’s 91 (34) against KKR at Eden Gardens in 2019. Nine sixes from him, also the joint-most for MI in IPL batting at No. 6 or below alongside Hardik in that same game in Kolkata.
After the entertaining match at the Wankhede Stadium, RCB are now at the 3rd position with 6 points and a net run rate of +1.148. Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings occupy the first and second place with 8 and 7 points respectively. And the Mumbai Indians fell to 8th place with 2 points and a negative after playing 4 games in the 10-team league.
I think we conceded too many runs – Hardik Pandya
“Yes, and at the same time, I think we conceded too many (runs) as well. I think that was always going to be a catch-up task. I think in the last two games, as a bowling unit or even as a batting unit, we have been playing catch-up in the game rather than leading it,” Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya said at the post-match ceremony.
“We need to really reflect, we really need to see what is the best we can do and how we can get that momentum and that click that we need. We have a couple of days off from here and we are out of footwork again. To be very honest, a lot of things have to be rethought now. It is definitely not working,” the Mumbai Indians captain added.
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