IPL: Suryakumar Yadav rediscovers his mojo as MI beat RCB

After having endured a difficult start to 2023, Suryakumar Yadav seems to have rediscovered his form with the bat. His knock of 83 from just 35 deliveries against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Tuesday was a perfect example of that.

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On Tuesday, Mumbai Indians beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets at the Wankhede Stadium after having restricted them to 199/6.

IPL 2023: Rohit’s form, death bowling concern for Mumbai Indians ahead of tie against RCB

IPL 2023: Mumbai Indians have last laugh against Royal Challengers Bangalore at Wankhede

RCB were put into bat after MI won the toss and opted to field. What did they do first? Get rid of the dangerous Virat Kohli (1) early.

They did that precisely, with Jason Behrendorff removing the opener for a low score. RCB skipper Faf du Plessis and Glenn Maxwell have for a large extent been the backbone of the Bengaluru franchise, and the two forged 120 runs from 62 balls for the third wicket to take them to a total that was just shy of 200.

A total of 199 never looked safe, no matter the partnership, and it was just a matter of time before someone stepped up. And for India, it had to be Suryakumar Yadav aka SKY, while Nehal Wadhera (52*) played a supporting role. Wadhera has well and truly been one of the finds of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season, and he did a brilliant job displaying composure and accuracy in his knock of 52 off 34 balls.

Suryakumar hit the aggressive notes right from the word go. He kept on getting those boundaries at regular intervals, and even punished Wanindu Hasaranga for two sixes in the 15^th over. Both were slog sweeps over deep square leg.

Despite taking two wickets, Hasaranga went for a mammoth 53 runs in four overs, and part of the reason for his expensive figures was Suryakumar Yadav.

Suryakumar Yadav is one of those batters who, if he gets going, he can be unstoppable. A good start to the innings is what has hurt SKY in the past, but on Tuesday he ensured that he capitalises on his start and build a momentum for himself and his team.

SKY reached his fifty inside just 26 balls, and even after getting to his fifty, he weas still aware of the match situation. He know he still had a job in hand. He maintained his aggression with the bat, hitting Vijaykumar Vyshak for consecutive boundaries in the 16^th over. The first one was from a high full toss from Vyshak, and SKY made full use of it to pull it over fine leg for a maximum. That was a no-ball from Vyshak, and MI were gifted with a free-hit.

Suryakumar came up with a four in the free-hit delivery, before making use of another full toss from Vyshak to slam over deep backward square leg. SKY was once again batting with complete freedom, and that was good to see.

SKY’s innings was like a highlights package, but his entertaining knock of 83 eventually came to an end, with SKY looking to drag the pull but just did not time it right. Suryakumar eventually fell to the hands of Kedar Jadhav, who took the catch well inside the boundary rope.

It was only a matter of time after this, with Wadhera finishing the match with a maximum, and 21 balls to spare.

After the match, Faf du Plessis admitted that SKY can be unstoppable once he gets going. “He (SKY) is one of the best, when he gets going, it’s difficult to shut him down,” said Du Plessis.

What’s worrying MI?

Rohit Sharma’s form. On Tuesday, Rohit Sharma (7) was dismissed for another low score, and now with the team in a good position in the points table (Third with 12 points), there will only be more pressure for the MI skipper to perform with the bat.

To put into context, Rohit’s last double-figure mark while batting was a knock of 44 against Punjab Kings 22 April. Three weeks can be a long time in cricket, especially when there are several matches in between.

Since then Rohit has endured scores of 2,3,0,0 and 7, so it might be time for Rohit to finally step up with the bat, because no team can rely on their middle-order batters to deliver the goods every single time.

With an intense race for the IPL playoffs heating up, it will be paramount that Rohit finds his scoring rhythm back, and increase his strike-rate as well, if MI are to maintain their winning run and potentially qualify for the knockouts.

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