Kohli guides RCB to win over Punjab, Rohit and Suryakumar on song as MI hammer Chennai

Virat Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal hit half-centuries to steer Royal Challengers Bengaluru to a seven-wicket win over Punjab Kings.

Chasing 158 for victory, Bengaluru were propelled by a 103-run second-wicket stand between Kohli, who made an unbeaten 73, and Padikkal to reach their target with seven balls to spare at Mullanpur, near Chandigarh.

Bengaluru avenged their loss to Punjab at home on Friday and the two teams, both seeking their first IPL title, are level on points.

The in-form Kohli, 36, struck his fourth half-ton of the season and surpassed Australia’s David Warner for the most 50-plus scores in the popular T20 tournament.

Kohli has now made it past the 50-mark 67 times, including eight centuries.

Left-handed Padikkal made 61 off 35 balls, his first fifty of the season, after Bengaluru lost opener Phil Salt in the first over to Arshdeep Singh.

Padikkal fell to Harpreet Brar, leaving Kohli to play the anchor in a 54-ball knock laced with seven fours and a six.

Bengaluru spinners Krunal Pandya and Suyash Sharma took two wickets each to set up victory as they helped restrict Punjab to 157-6.

Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh started aggressively in an opening stand of 42 before Pandya was introduced in the fifth over.

The left-arm spinner struck with his second ball to send back Arya for 22.

Pandya struck again in his next over to dismiss Prabhsimran, who hit 33 off 17 balls, and finished with figures of 2-25. West Indies fast bowler Romario Shepherd, in his first Bengaluru outing this season, had skipper Shreyas Iyer out for six and Nehal Wadhera was run out soon after.

Earlier, India captains Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav struck unbeaten half-centuries to power Mumbai Indians to a nine-wicket thrashing of Chennai Super Kings in a battle of IPL heavyweights on Sunday.

India’s Test and ODI skipper Rohit struck form in this edition of the T20 tournament with 76 and national T20 leader Suryakumar smashed 68 off 30 balls at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.

The two put on 114 runs to steer the five-time champions to chase down 177 with 26 balls to spare in a dominant performance.

Rohit, 37, came in as impact substitute in the chase and put on 63 runs with Ryan Rickleton, who fell for 24 off Ravindra Jadeja, to lay the foundations of Mumbai’s third straight win.

Five-time winners Chennai, led by M.S. Dhoni after regular skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad pulled out injured mid-season, crashed to their sixth defeat in eight matches to stay bottom of the 10-team table.

Rohit struggled for form until this knock with just 82 runs in his previous six innings but found his groove with trademark flicks and pulls.

He reached his fifty in 33 balls but Suryakumar was in a hurry and his knock included some audacious shots behind the wicket raised his half-ton in 26 deliveries.

Rohit and Suryakumar smashed 11 sixes between them.

Chennai reached 176-5 after attacking half-centuries from Shivam Dube, who made 50, and Jadeja, who hit an unbeaten 53.

Invited to bat first, Chennai lost opener Rachin Ravindra for five off left-arm medium-pace bowler Ashwani Kumar before 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre took to the crease as the youngest to play for the five-time winners.

Mhatre smashed Ashwani for a four and two sixes and kept up his batting blitz till his departure on 32 off 15 balls.

Jadeja was promoted to number four and after opener Shaik Rasheed departed for 19, put on 79 with fellow left-hander Dube as the two rebuilt the innings and then hit back. Dube took on New Zealand quick Trent Boult in one over and then combined with Jadeja to smash 24 runs from the 16th over.

Pace bowler Jasprit Bumrah pulled things back for Mumbai with two wickets in one over including Dube and then Dhoni for four and returned figures of 2-25 in his four.

Jadeja kept up the pace and finished strongly in a 16-run 20th over where he raised his first 50-plus score in his last 14 IPL innings, but the effort went in vain.

Agence France-Presse