MUMBAI, India: A whirlwind batting performance powered the Mumbai Indians to a stunning seven-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Indian Premier League on Thursday.
Chasing 198 for victory, Ishan Kishan smacked 69 off 34 balls and then Suryakumar Yadav smacked 52 off only 19 balls as Mumbai crossed the finish line in 15.3 overs.
It finished with 199-3 in reply to Bengaluru’s 196-8 in 20 overs with Dinesh Karthik scoring 53 not out off 26 balls.
Put into bat, Bengaluru’s batting faltered against Jasprit Bumrah who picked 5-21 in four overs and restricted the visitors to an under-par score.
Bumrah broke through in the third over and had leading run-scorer Virat Kohli caught behind for three runs.
English batter Will Jacks had been drafted in for Australian all-rounder Cameron Green, but he too fell to Bumrah for only 8.
Skipper Faf du Plessis and Rajat Patidar put on 82 off 47 balls for the third wicket. Du Plessis found form again and scored his first half-century of the season — 61 off 40 balls, including four fours and three sixes.
Patidar scored 50 off 26 balls as Bengaluru’s innings seemed to correct course. But Mumbai struck back with Gerald Coetzee getting the breakthrough to send back Patidar.
Another big moment followed when Glenn Maxwell was out lbw for a four-ball duck to spinner Shreyas Gopal.
Bumrah returned to sink the remaining Bengaluru lineup — he was on a hat trick twice, but missed out on both. He had du Plessis caught in the 17th over, and then Mahipal Lomror for a duck in the 17th over. Two overs later, he picked another brace off consecutive deliveries.
Karthik held one end together though, hitting four sixes and five fours to prop up Bengaluru from 153-6 in 16.5 overs, falling just short of 200.
It wasn’t going to be enough on a dewy Wankhede wicket, but Mumbai seemed to be in a hurry.
Kishan put on 101 off only 53 balls with Rohit Sharma (38), as he blazed seven fours and five sixes.
Bengaluru’s bowling had no response, or respite, with Mumbai crossing 100 in the ninth over.
Kishan was finally caught in the deep, but Yadav walked in to further torment the visitors. He hit four sixes, and another five fours, scoring 50 off only 17 balls.
Sharma was dismissed in the 12th over, even as it didn’t slow down proceedings. Yadav was out caught in the 14th over, with Mumbai on the cusp of victory and duly won the game with 27 balls to spare.
It was Bengaluru’s fifth loss in six games, along with a major hit to its net run-rate, as it sunk to ninth in the points’ table.
Mumbai moved up to seventh with four points from five games.
Kishan and Bumrah lead Mumbai to 7-wicket win over Bengaluru in IPL
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Kishan and Bumrah lead Mumbai to 7-wicket win over Bengaluru in IPL
- Chasing 198 for victory, Ishan Kishan smacked 69 off 34 balls and then Suryakumar Yadav smacked 52 off only 19 balls
- Mumbai finished with 199-3 in reply to Bengaluru’s 196-8 in 20 overs with Dinesh Karthik scoring 53 not out off 26 balls
Johnson, Castle shine as Spurs rout Thunder 130-110
- The Thunder fell to 26-4 after the loss, while the Spurs improved to 22-7 to stay in second place in the West
- Anthony Edwards rattled in 38 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves took down the New York Knicks 115-104 in Minneapolis
LOS ANGELES: Keldon Johnson and Stephon Castle combined for 49 points as the San Antonio Spurs produced a second-half scoring blitz to rout the NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder 130-110 on Tuesday.
Ten days after eliminating the Thunder from the NBA Cup semifinals, the Spurs once again proved too strong for the Western Conference leaders as they powered to their seventh straight victory in San Antonio.
Starting shooting guard Castle finished with 24 points including four three-pointers but the key contribution came from Johnson, who added 25 off the bench including five threes.
The Thunder fell to 26-4 after the loss, while the Spurs improved to 22-7 to stay in second place in the West.
San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama finished with 12 points while reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder scoring with 33 points.
“It shows how serious we are — we’ve got the same aspirations that they have, we just want to come out and compete every time we play them,” said Castle, who poured in 10 of his 24 points during the fourth quarter in which the Spurs outscored the Thunder 43-28.
The Denver Nuggets meanwhile missed the chance to close the gap on Oklahoma City after losing a thrilling duel 131-130 against the Dallas Mavericks on the road in Texas.
Mavericks prodigy Cooper Flagg once again stole the show, with the gifted 19-year-old No.1 draft pick scoring a game high 33 points with nine rebounds and nine assists.
Flagg’s performance was backed by 31 points from Anthony Davis as Dallas outdueled Nuggets duo Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, who accounted for 60 Denver points.
The Nuggets almost snatched victory at the buzzer, but Peyton Watson’s wide open three-point attempt bounced out after hitting the rim.
“We’re just coming together, trying to have each other’s backs,” Flagg said. “Obviously Jamal and (Jokic) had it going — so we were just trying to take those guys away and make somebody else beat us.”
Dallas improved to 12-19 while the Nuggets slipped to 21-8 in the West.
Flagg, meanwhile, took encouragement from another hard-fought win by the Mavs, who last week took down the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons.
“We’re learning from all of these experiences,” Flagg said. “You know we’ve been in a lot of really close games, so just trying to take stuff from those games and learn from it and get better.”
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Anthony Edwards rattled in 38 points as the Minnesota Timberwolves took down the New York Knicks 115-104 in Minneapolis.
Edwards knocked down four three-pointers while teammate Julius Randle added 25 points as the Wolves eclipsed a 40-point performance from Karl-Anthony Towns.
Knicks star Jalen Brunson, who scored 47 points in Sunday’s win over Miami, missed the game with a right ankle problem.
