Kohli, Rohit star as Bengaluru and Mumbai win in IPL

MUMBAI: Virat Kohli smashed an unbeaten 73 and Rohit Sharma struck form with 76 not out in match-winning knocks for Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Mumbai Indians in an IPL super Sunday.

The in-form Kohli hit his fourth half-century of this edition of the popular T20 tournament to anchor Bengaluru’s chase of 158 in a seven-wicket win over Punjab Kings at Mullanpur, near Chandigarh.

Another Indian veteran Rohit struck form with his first fifty this season in the second match of the day to lead Mumbai’s nine-wicket hammering of Chennai Super Kings in a battle of heavyweights.

Rohit, 37, put on 114 runs with Suryakumar Yadav, who hit 68 off 30 balls, as they steered the five-time champions’ chase of 177, getting there with 26 balls to spare. Rohit, 37, came in as impact substitute in the chase and put on 63 with Ryan Rickleton, who fell for 24 off Ravindra Jadeja, to lay the foundations of Mumbai’s third straight win.

“After being here for such a long period of time, it’s easy to start doubting yourself and start doing different things,” Rohit said after being named player of the match.

“For me, it was important to do simple things and have a clear mindset. It was important for me to hold my shape and extend my arms, and when the ball was in my area, I had to do what I have been doing.”

Rohit struggled for form until this knock with just 82 runs in his previous six innings but found his groove with trademark flicks and pulls. He reached his fifty in 33 balls but Suryakumar was in a hurry and his knock included some audacious shots behind the wicket raised his half-ton in 26 deliveries.

Rohit and Suryakumar smashed 11 sixes between them. Bowlers set up victory after Jasprit Bumrah’s 2-25 and spinner Mitchell Santner’s 1-14 kept Chennai down to 176-5.

Shivam Dube, who made 50, and Jadeja, who hit an unbeaten 53, put on 79 runs for the fourth wicket and 17-year-old Ayush Mhatre smashed 32 off 15 balls after being the youngest player to debut for Chennai.

Five-time winners Chennai, led by M.S. Dhoni after regular skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad pulled out injured mid-season, crashed to their sixth defeat in eight matches to stay bottom of the 10-team table.

In the first match of the day, Bengaluru were propelled by a 103-run second-wicket stand between Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal, who hit 61, to reach their target with seven balls to spare. Bengaluru avenged their loss to Punjab at home on Friday and the two teams, both seeking their first IPL title, are level on points.

“Very important game for us,” said player of the match Kohli. “When you go from eight (points) to 10, it makes a massive difference.”

Kohli on his anchor role said: “One partnership is good enough in T20 cricket during run chase. I can accelerate, but I want to understand the strengths of other players. “Holding one end up at the moment, that’s working for us.”

The in-form Kohli, 36, struck his fourth half-ton of the season and surpassed Australia’s David Warner for the most 50-plus scores in the popular T20 tournament.