Mumbai Indians lost their fourth match on the bounce as Royal Challengers Bangalore cantered to an easy seven-wicket win in the 18th match of the 2022 Indian Premier League at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune on Saturday.

Anuj Rawat (66 off 47 balls) struck his maiden IPL fifty, guiding RCB to the target in just 18.3 overs. He had two fifty-plus partnerships — 50 for opening stand with skipper Faf du Plessis (16) and 80 with Virat Kohli (48 off 36 balls) for the second wicket.

Praising the youngster, RCB skipper Faf du Plessis said, “I spoke about him before the tournament, he has potential and we talk a lot to develop game awareness. Comes down the wicket, shows intent, he’s a very good player for the future.”

When it comes to bowling, Harshal Patel (2/23) and Wanindu Hasaranga (2/28) were the top performers for RCB, while Akash Deep (1/20) also accounted for a wicket.  

“Mumbai are a quality team and we had excellent bowling for atleast 18 overs. There was something in it for the bowlers in the first innings. We didn’t want to give them a good start. Rohit played some good shots but his wicket was valuable. Akash Deep bowled really good tonight. It was just one of those nights, where you mix bowlers around and they keep getting wickets,” Faf du Plessis said at the post-match presentation.

Earlier, MI skipper Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan‘s confident start was followed by an inexplicable batting collapse before Suryakumar Yadav’s brilliant unbeaten 68 gave the side a respectable total of 151 for 6.

“I wanted to bat as long as possible but got out at the wrong time. We had gotten off to a 50-run partnership, but got out at the wrong time. That is hurting us a little bit. Definitely not a 150-run pitch, Surya showed us you can do that if you bat sensibly. Credit to Surya, but we knew it wasn’t going to be enough. (Areas of concern) We want batters to bat deep. And if you get runs on the board, there’s something for the bowlers to do,” Rohit Sharma said at the post-match presentation.