BANGALORE: The writing was on the wall from the first ball for Royal Challengers Bangalore. And Mumbai Indians did not have to wait till the last one either.

They pulled off an easy nine-wicket victory over the hosts in the IPL at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Tuesday. Putting the Bangalore side into bat after winning the toss, Mumbai skipper Sachin Tendulkar, the eventual Man of the Match, handed the ball to Lasith Malinga. The curly haired bowler produced a yorker that pitched on the middle and off and moved away a trifle to baffle Mayank Agarwal and bend his off-stump.

That first ball wicket saw Mumbai right on top and they managed to stay right there to the end for their second victory.

Bangalore never got going and eventually managed 140-4 at an asking rate of 7.05 per over. Probably, the fact the Sachin was in the opposing ranks skipped their minds. In the company of the young and supremely confident Ambati Rayudu, Sachin pieced together an unbroken second wicket stand of 110 in 86 balls to steer Mumbai home. Rayudu made a swashbuckling, unbeaten 63 while Sachin scored 55 to bring up his 9th fifty in the IPL.

Rayudu produced an innings of class and quality. He drove, cut and pulled the bowlers to all parts of the field in his blemishless knock. Sachin was patience personified and never lost an opportunity to keep the scoreboard ticking. While he never really clobbered the attack, he batted with his usual authority to drive and pull often.

If RCB were shocked to lose a wicket in the first over, the first ball, they were in for more as opener Davy Jacobs slammed pacer Zaheer Khan for a huge six over long on in the first over.

That was the difference in their approaches. While RCB’s cautious aggression got them only so far, Mumbai’s calculated assaults fetched them better dividends.

They got runs, they tore the bowling to all parts of the field forcing skipper Daniel Vettori to use no less than seven bowlers but to no avail. And as Dirk Nannes limped off with an injury after one wicket maiden, RCB’s woeful night was complete.

Even the 140 might not have been possible but for an effective partnership of 91 between Tilakratne Dilshan and A B de Villiers. Dilshan carried his bat through after making a subdued 59 while De Villiers perished for 38. With the wicket offering some bounce initially, RCB struggled to come to terms with the Mumbai attack as Malinga and Pollard took two wickets. Though Malinga conceded 16 runs in the final over, the target was always gettable.



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