Mumbai Indians beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 6 runs for their first win in the 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. The three-time champions beat RCB at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday and moved up to fifth in the standings. Skipper Rohit Sharma was our top run-getter (48) on the night and Jasprit Bumrah was the Player of the Match for his match-winning spell of 3 for 20.

Bangalore almost chased down our total of 187 with Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers both contributing for the hosts. Eventually it was Bumrah who broke the partnership between Kohli and de Villiers by dismissing his national team captain and Rohit lauded his role in the win. ”It was a great battle to watch and it was great for the audience to watch, quality cricket being displayed and it’s good for the game. Speaking of Bumrah, he is very smart, he knows what he is doing with the ball and those two – Virat and AB – they are class players, we all know that,” Rohit told the media at the post-match press conference.

He continued: “We wanted to break the partnership when they were going strong and Bumrah came in and got Virat out. It was a crucial wicket at that point of the game. So, I think Bumrah has matured a lot. I keep saying that I shouldn’t be saying he’s matured, he is more than matured now but yeah, his performances keep growing every day on the field and he is a very dedicated individual and he takes his game very seriously. He has a good work ethic, so he is somebody who wants to grow, as the days progress he wants to improve so that’s a good sign.”

Mayank Markande also picked up a wicket and Rohit was impressed with the young spinner’s endeavour. “The spinners give you a chance of taking wickets in the middle when the batsmen are going pretty strong. Mayank did that for us last year in the middle overs so we wanted to back him to do the job in the middle and I think he bowled really well, getting that wicket and kept the scoreboard tight and we back him a lot. We understand he will have off days as well but again the other spinners will always need to make sure that they will change the game around. So, as a captain I need to go through all the options available and Mayank was the (best) option (tonight),” he said.

Earlier in the evening, Hardik Pandya scored an unbeaten 32 off just 14 balls toward the backend of Mumbai’s innings and his contribution in the win didn’t go unnoticed either. “The runs he (Hardik) made was the difference-maker, he was very determined to go out there and get some runs. Last game did not go so well for him, so obviously there was the hunger to do well. He came out and got those crucial runs in the end. I thought he bowled well also, even though he conceded some runs, I personally thought he bowled very well. A big step from the last game in terms of performance. Hardik was out for a bit, he did not play a lot of games, it’s much-needed game time for him, it’s a big bonus for us if he keeps that form going for us, he is a crucial member of the team,” Rohit said.

In the end, it all boiled down to Lasith Malinga holding his nerve in the final over of the contest and the Sri Lankan legend duly obliged. While elaborating on Malinga’s role this year having acted as a mentor for MI last season, Rohit said: “The role for Malinga is going to be the same as what it was over the years, it is the same. He comes and bowls those yorkers and bouncers. He is the captain of the Sri Lankan National Cricket Team, so obviously he wants to play in the World Cup, so there is motivation there… He’s also in great form and bowled really well, so I think he just wants to keep that form going into the World Cup. He knows we expect him to come out for us and deliver those big wickets, his form is very important to us.”