Suryakumar Yadav
returned to his 360-degree hitting form in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Thursday when he scored a blistering 19-ball 52 in Mumbai Indians's (MI) comfortable seven-wicket win over
Royal Challengers Bengaluru
(RCB) at the
Wankhede Stadium
in Mumbai.
IPL 2024 POINTS TABLE
RCB succumbed to their fifth defeat in six matches as the five-time champions MI raced home with 4.3 overs to spare while chasing a challenging target of 197.
Starring for MI with the ball was bowling spearhead
Jasprit Bumrah
, who took a five-wicket haul (5/21).
Talking about Bumrah's contribution after the match on a lighter note, Surya said he doesn't face his MI and India temamate in the nets because the right-arm pacer causes a lot of damage.
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"It's been almost 2-3 years since I batted against him (Bumrah) in the nets because he either breaks my bat or breaks my foot," said the world No. 1 T20 batsman at the post-match presentation.
Bumrah's five-wicket haul was the first by any bowler against RCB and made him the joint leader in the list of highest wicket-takers in
IPL 2024
so far. Bumrah and Rajasthan Royals legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal have 10 wickets each now.
RCB had to thank captain Faf du Plessis (61 off 40 balls), Rajat Patidar (50 off 26 balls) and Dinesh Karthik (53 off 23 balls) to be able to post a challenging 196/8 on the board despite Bumrah's back-breaking spell.
Mumbai were never in trouble during the run-chase, as openers Ishan Kishan (69 off 34 balls) and Rohit Sharma (38 off 24 balls) added 101 runs for the opening partnership in 8.4 overs. Surya's quickfire knock put MI in cruise mode and skipper Hardik Pandya's 21 not out off 6 balls ensured that the hosts raced home.
"It's always good to be back at Wankhede. When the tournament started I was mentally here only, although physically in Bengaluru (recovering from injury). It felt like I never left," said Surya.
"When you are chasing 200, it is important to know the dew factor and take your chances. Both Rohit and Ishan did the job for us at the 10th over mark and we only knew that we had to finish early for that net run rate thing," he added.
Talking about his knock, Surya said: "I just try to play to the field and practice these shots and it is just muscle memory. I go out there and enjoy myself. The slice over point is the one that I enjoyed the most."
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