Mumbai Indians vs Royal Challengers Bangalore, 1st Match - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

It may have gone to the last ball, it may have been a proper thriller, but this was far from being a good game for either side. And in the end it was about who messed up more. But RCB should be proud, they've corrected a massive historic weakness in their death bowling tonight. Mumbai couldn't care less. Winning tonight would've felt strange. This was their warm-up match. They haven't turned up yet.Their IPL has only a 13-match league stage. Okay, it was fun bringing you this, as I, Vineet Anantharaman, sign off on behalf of Sagar Chawla, Raju Peethala, Ramakrishnan MS and our scorer, Mukesh Gowda. Until tomorrow, when Dhoni definitely shows up, ta ta!!

Harshal Patel | MoM: Absolutely happy to be back. When they traded me they told me my role was going to be bowling in the death and that is something that I have worked on for a couple of years. Happy to be here and with the faith they have shown in me. I was just focussed on my execution and the most important thing was to make use of my momentum. It is my first fifer in 98 T20s and the fact that it has come against MI makes it all the more special. I have worked a lot on my yorker. I was always good at the length balls ans slower balls. I wanted to be a bowler who takes on responsibility and that's what I have been working on for the last few years.

Virat Kohli | Winning captain: We won the first match last year as well that we played. It was important to play against the strongest side in the competition and test our side. Everyone was involved in this game, and when you win by two wickets, it means that everyone has gone in and played. A lot of options for me as well that helped bringing the game back. The pitch was looking decent in the first half, but to be honest, with the old ball the length ball was difficult to get away. That is why those partnerships between Maxi and me and then between AB and Maxi was really important. It's not a pitch where you can just hit through the line. You have to be smart with picking the gaps and running hard. Playing in Chennai you have to be respectful of that. The shot that Pollard got out to, in Wankhde it would've sailed into the crowds. We came back well and used the conditions well. They came back well too after losing Rohit early and those last six overs for us were probably the best six we've ever had. We brought Harshal in a trade from Delhi. He is relishing the responsibility and is clear with his plans. He was the difference today. He is going to be our death bowler. As a captain you want players with clarity, and he has that. Jamieson started off well, Yuzi was good, Siraj was good too. In T20 cricket, clarity at the top of your mark is all you as for as a captain. Harshal was very clear with that and it was his day today. We wanted Maxi to bat at four. Rajat is a very solid players. He is an exciting player, plays spin well too. The thinking was that we wanted to give Maxi some balls at the start and not get him slogging rightaway. You saw the result today of him playing 10-15 balls. His innings was the game-changer. Had he stayed in we would've finished a couple of overs earlier. The opposition then gets nervous about AB. We have depth in the batting which we want to utilize. AB is probably the only one in the team who is so versatile. And he does it on slow wickets what not many can do. In a tricky chase you need experience at the back, and the opposition knows that if he doesn't get out, the bowlers get in a different headspace.

AB de Villiers: Was an incredible game of cricket. We knew it wasn't going to be easy, we knew it wasn't an easy pitch to play on and it's one of those wickets that gets harder?as the game goes on and we knew if we could take it to the end we could take a chance. It was a good throw (about his run-out) and Krunal was spot-on. Absolute pleasure playing alongside him (Maxwell). I love playing with players like that and he just wants to win cricket games. And also there's Dan Christian. It's a nice combination to have. There's a reason why they've won the trophy five times but that was the challenge for us tonight. We did well and we won the first game against them last year as well.

Rohit Sharma | Losing captain: That's the most important?thing I guess (to win tournaments). Not the first game. I thought it was a great effort.. great fight till the end. I thought we were 20 runs short with the kind of start we got. We made some mistakes in the first game, bound to happen. He's (Jansen) a talent?we have identified to bowl in any situation. We wanted to get?wickets when AB and Christian were batting, which is why we went with Bumrah and Boult, unfortunately it didn't work. Definitely not an easy pitch to bat on. We need to identify the situations and get variations. AB was brilliant and got them home. In hindsight you can say it takes time to get intensity. But there are fresh faces. Lot of players were playing international cricket and we have not had time to get to know each other very well. It can be difficult for teams who have great home record but that's the challenge of the sport (about playing in neutral venues). But we are fortunate enough to be able to be on the park and put some smiles on the faces of people in India. The country is going through tough times. Give them something to look forward to.

STAT: First time RCB have won a season opener they have been involved in. They lost in 2008, 2017 & 2019.

RCB winning off the last ball in run chases (IPL)
vs PWI Bengaluru 2012
vs MI Mumbai 2021

23:25 Local Time: Some things in life never change. L.L.L.L.L.L.L.L.L. And however close Mumbai manage to drag it, history continues to defy them. Also, just as fittingly, it's Harshal Patel with this winning flick, making sure he does no wrong on what's already been a massively satisfying day with his fifer. This match really had no business getting this close. With Kohli and Maxwell having laid the platform, and then with AB smoking them around, this really looked over at the second time-out. But again, Bumrah's Bumrah for a reason. Picking up wickets is one thing, but keeping AB off strike is another. And he did both. But still, RCB's choking wasn't all that good! For all that they fought with at the death with the ball, it was their batting at the death that was actually the clincher. When you end up with figures of 39 runs | 6 wickets in overs 15-20, you rarely win. And when it's Mumbai and their history of IPL openers, you just cannot win. Okay stick around, the presentations are here ..

Marco Jansen to Harshal Patel, 1 run, yorker, whipped away, and that's all Patel had to do -- get bat. It's the toe-end, and it's been fielded superbly at short fine leg. But no, it doesn't matter, they've snuck through, and RCB help Mumbai keep up their IPL opening tradition

1 run | 1 ball. Again, just to reiterate, this is madness .,

Marco Jansen to Siraj, leg byes, 1 run, shuffles, misses his glance, but the ball trickles away just past the stumps, and that's good enough to pinch the leg bye

Mohammed Siraj, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Marco Jansen to de Villiers, out de Villiers Run Out!! 1 run completed. Madness. Absolute madness. AB - in his greed to keep his strike - quite deliberately nurdles this very softly through mid-wicket, and despite Krunal Pandya getting to the ball by the time he was turning around for the second, he doesn't stop. He takes the risk. And even his full-length dive cannot get him in. de Villiers run out (Krunal Pandya/Ishan Kishan) 48(27) [4s-4 6s-2]

Marco Jansen to de Villiers, THATS OUT!! Run Out!!

3 balls | 3 runs. Okay, ignore the earlier prediction. That was stupid. A choke now?

Marco Jansen to Harshal Patel, 1 run, low full toss again, driven out to mid-off, quietly, and AB's back there

Marco Jansen to Harshal Patel, 2 runs, there's no deep extra cover, and Jansen pitches it up in the slot. Patel swings on a slice, and really could've had more had the connection been a bit better

Marco Jansen to de Villiers, 1 run, ah, well, well, well. Proper yorker this -- pacy, just outside off and de Villiers throws his bat out at it after making his usual room, and can only squirt it off the inside-toe-end past his stumps

Marco Jansen [3.0-0-22-2] is back into the attack

Right, 7 runs | 6 balls | AB | Jansen. Let's get practical, 3 balls?