Category Uncategorized

Moody and Jayawardene stress on importance of consistency in rules for image of the league

Mohammad Isam08-Aug-2019Mahela Jayawardene and Tom Moody, head coaches of Khulna Titans and Rangpur Riders, have slammed the constant changes to the Bangladesh Premier League’s rules and regulations. Their criticisms follow the BPL governing council’s announcement of August 4, which said that existing teams require a fresh franchise agreement to be part of the next four-year cycle as BPL franchise owners. One of the key issues affected by this announcement is also the transfer of players, like Shakib Al Hasan’s recent move to Rangpur Riders from Dhaka Dynamites.BCB director Mahbubul Anam, at a press conference on August 4, stated that player deals will become null and void because the franchises haven’t signed the new deal with the BCB yet. “Since we have not yet made a new agreement for the new cycle, we cannot endorse whatever deals that have been struck by the franchises for the seventh edition,” he said.But according to a May 11, 2019, letter sent to the franchises, the BCB told them to “take necessary preparation” for the upcoming edition. According to multiple franchise officials, the renewal of their franchisee agreement is a mere formality, which they would have done in the background, while preparing for tournament.Moody, who coaches Riders stated that “the consistency of the playing conditions and the rules set out for the franchises” was one of the most important elements in a T20 league, while Jayawardene said that changing the rules every year was “not healthy” for franchise cricket.The timing of the governing council’s announcement has irked most teams, who signed up local and foreign players for their four direct signings, and were planning to speak to existing and prospective sponsors. It has also brought into question the manner of functioning of the BPL governing council. Their press conference on August 4, which was attended by BCB director Mahbubul Anam, governing council chairman Sheikh Sohel and BPL secretary Ismail Haider Mallick, was called four days after Shakib Al Hasan left Dhaka Dynamites to join Rangpur Riders.The Dynamites team also expressed its disappointment at not having been informed of the transfer by the player. The Dynamites franchise is owned by Beximco, where BCB president Namzul Hassan and Mallick are both employed. Their current coach is Khaled Mahmud, the BCB director. Shakib has played for the Dynamites since 2016, coincidentally, after having moved there from the Riders.BPL’s current rules suggest that Shakib, one of the league’s “icon” players, is free to move. This rule was changed to reflect this a few seasons ago, and previously Mashrafe Mortaza and Mushfiqur Rahim also moved to move to the Riders and Rajshahi Kings, respectively, in 2016. Under the same rule, Khulna Titans and Comilla Victorians have reportedly roped in Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur for the 2019-20 edition.Moody, who guided the Riders to their maiden title in 2017, said that constant rule changes could bring the integrity of a tournament into question, locally and internationally.”Having been involved in many T20 leagues over the past 12 years it has become very clear that one of the most important elements is the consistency of the playing conditions and the rules set out for the franchises,” Moody said. “It is not important only for the franchises or the management, it is crucial for the fan base to have an understanding of what playing group not only local but international they are following. It gives them a loyal fan base. If we see things constantly changing on a whim the integrity of the tournament can be questioned both locally and internationally.”Jayawardene, who has been the Titan coach since 2017, said the constant changes were not fair on teams.”Having long-term planning is important because what I felt when you keep changing rules every year and even while the tournament is on it is not healthy for any franchise cricket. If you see all the other tournaments around the world they always have consistent set of rules which guides all franchises and it is quite fair for everyone,” he said.Moody and Jayawardene are not the first to question the procedures and the fairness of rules in the BPL. The tournament has seen several modifications of rules and regulations, and playing conditions, and has faced issues of conflict of interest since its inception. Board officials either directly owning or indirectly connected with franchises is one of the issues. Apart from Hassan and Mallick’s links with Dynamites, the Titans managing director Kazi Inam Ahmed is a BCB director, while chief selector Minhajul Abedin ran the Chittagong Vikings franchise last season.

Zimbabwe fans at Harare Sports Club were seen cheering on Aaron Finch after expressing their dissatisfaction with the home team

Liam Brickhill03-Jul-2018Zimbabwe are in the doldrums. They had lost five frontline players before this tri-series began, lost their senior seamer to injury in their opening game, and now it seems they might have lost the backing of their long-suffering fans. The Zimbabwe players fielding in front of the boisterous Castle Corner stands at Harare Sports Club copped some flak during Aaron Finch’s record-breaking knock, with allrounder Solomon Mire getting an earful when he was in that position.”It’s a tough one,” Mire said. “The fans are a little bit angry [at what has been happening]. But that’s something that’s out of our control at the moment. The only thing we can do is concentrate on trying to perform, and hopefully that will win back the fans. Unfortunately, nothing went to plan in the first innings. The wicket didn’t behave like we thought it would and we didn’t get any early wickets.”Performance would seem to be key, as the disgruntled fans eventually started cheering every boundary Finch hit. “That was nice,” Finch said. “This is my fifth time here to Harare, and down in that far pocket at long-off there’s always a good crowd and some really good support for whoever plays well on the day, whether it’s a Zimbabwean batter or Australian bowler, whatever it might be. It’s nice to get them on side.”Some of the loudest cheers for Zimbabwe were delivered ironically, the game long since gone, when Nos. 10 and 11 were clinging stubbornly to the crease and solid forward defensive strokes were applauded.It wasn’t just the team that bore the brunt of supporters’ disenchantment. A group of fans organising themselves as the Zimbabwe Cricket Supporters Union also directed their anger at the ZC board, holding up banners and placards including statements such as: “No to victimization”, “ZC board must go” and “enough of mismanagement of funds”. The group compiled their grievances in a letter seen by ESPNcricinfo intended to be handed to ZC board chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani, listing, among other things, alleged maladministration, a “shambolic domestic league”, and hurdles to the formation of a players’ union. This group eventually left the ground after negotiating with security, leaving their banners on an empty stand.”It’s disappointing,” Mire said. “It’s been the trend in the last two games that we’re scrambling to get over the line and finish our 20 overs at the end. That’s testament to the fact that we’re continuing to go hard and we’re not really working those middle overs very well. If we go hard early, we’ve got to consolidate if we lose early wickets. Which also comes down to maybe me or one of the top order guys have to bat through.”With the current set-up that we have, it’s important that the guys who get in cash in. That’s probably the big difference. We’re probably a little bit light in that regard.”Mire suggested that Zimbabwe had a lot to learn from how the Australian openers built their record-breaking partnership. “You can learn from how the opposition went about it. The guy that was in definitely cashed in, and they didn’t both try to go. D’Arcy [Short] did well to give Finchy a lot of the strike, and he was the guy who was in and he cashed in. We have to do that. If a guy gets a good start, he’s got to continue.”

Peter Trego smote 135 against his former county as Somerset made it three wins from as many Royal London Cup South Group games with a four-wicket win over Kent at Taunton

ECB Reporters Network02-May-2017Somerset 354 for 6 (Trego 135, Hildreth 64, Elgar 55, Tredwell 3-65) beat Kent 352 for 6 (Blake 116, Bell-Drummond 106, Northeast 51, Overton 3-66) by four wickets
ScorecardPeter Trego provided the major contribution in Somerset’s huge chase•Getty Images

Peter Trego smote 135 against his former county as Somerset made it three wins from as many Royal London Cup South Group games with a four-wicket win over Kent at Taunton.The 35-year-old allrounder hit six sixes and six fours in his 119-ball innings, receiving good support from Dean Elgar (55) and James Hildreth (64) as the hosts reached an imposing target of 353 with 15 balls to spare. James Tredwell returned 3 for 65.Earlier, a scintillating 46-ball hundred from Alex Blake and 113 from Daniel Bell-Drummond had led Kent to 352 for 6. Blake smashed seven sixes and 10 fours in his 116, while Sam Northeast made 51 and Craig Overton claimed 3 for 66.But Somerset paced their innings better from the outset and were able to secure victory without the sort of savage onslaught Blake produced in the latter stages of the Kent innings.After winning the toss, the visitors lost Joe Denly to the third ball of the match from Josh Davey. Bell-Drummond and Northeast then put together a century stand before Northeast drove left-arm spinner Roelof van der Merwe straight to Max Waller at cover.After 30 overs Kent were becalmed on 136 for 2. That became 146 for 3 when Darren Stevens hung his bat out to a wide ball from Overton and presented a simple slip catch.In came Blake to alter the momentum with some glorious shots. The 28-year-old left-hander showed no mercy, particularly when offered width, and produced some wonderfully clean hitting all around the wicket.Bell-Drummond’s hundred was more circumspect, occupying 113 balls, but allied to Blake’s big-hitting looked to have put Kent in a strong position.That looked even more the case when Somerset openers Steve Davies and Jim Allenby fell with only 19 runs on the board. In Davies’ case it was his third successive duck in the competition.But Trego and Elgar eased any nerves in the home dressing room, taking few risks in a stand of 108 in 18.1 overs before Elgar lost patience against Tredwell and skied a catch to deep midwicket.The South African had looked in no trouble and that also applied to Hildreth as he and the now swashbuckling Trego put Somerset on top by adding 131 for the fourth wicket.Hildreth’s 39-ball half-century was pleasing on the eye, but when he perished to a reverse sweep and Trego’s majestic knock ended with 59 still needed, Kent looked to be in with a chance.Adam Hose snuffed it out with an impressive 39 and a crowd of nearly 3,000 enjoyed a tremendous day of high-scoring cricket.

Australia’s team doctor Peter Brukner believes cricket will eventually follow Australia’s football codes and introduce a system in which players leave the field for concussion assessment after blows to the head

Brydon Coverdale in Christchurch23-Feb-2016Australia’s team doctor Peter Brukner believes cricket will eventually follow Australia’s football codes and introduce a system in which players leave the field for concussion assessment after blows to the head. The assessment process was the subject of attention on day two in Christchurch, when Steven Smith was struck on the helmet by a bouncer from New Zealand fast bowler Neil Wagner.Smith fell to the ground before getting to his feet again, and Brukner and Australia’s physio David Beakley ran onto the field to assess whether he needed any treatment. After spending roughly five minutes on the field, Brukner saw no signs of concussion and decided that Smith could continue his innings, but he said further testing had been undertaken later that day and the next morning.”There are things we look for, how well orientated they are, how alert they are, and there’s standard questions that you always ask automatically,” Brukner said after day four at Hagley Oval. “We took him through those. He answered all those questions perfectly. He seemed quite alert. We kept talking to him in that five minutes and by the end of that five minutes I was comfortable that there was nothing too serious going on.”The incident occurred in the last over before tea and Brukner also spent time with Smith during the tea break, as well as using a computerised concussion test called Cogstate after stumps that day. A test of cognitive function that assesses a wide range of areas including reaction times, Cogstate was again used to assess Smith before play on the third morning.”We have baseline measures for all the players in the Australian squad. We did that again on that night, and we were able to compare that with his baseline. And there was no difference between what he did on Sunday night and the baseline. And he was feeling okay. I repeated that test on Monday morning, just because sometimes they have a delayed response and deteriorate overnight. Once again he felt okay and the test was okay.”Smith was also assessed at other breaks in play, and showed no signs of concussion. Brukner said that while there were “grey areas” in determining concussion, if he had any doubts he would not hesitate to rule a player out, as he did when Chris Rogers missed two Tests in the West Indies last year following a blow to the helmet at training, and he also took Rogers from the field following a blow during the Lord’s Test.”There are some very clear-cut concussions, they’re knocked out and talking gibberish and so on, there are others who are absolutely fine. And there’s a grey area,” Brukner said. “I accept it’s a difficult … we would love a test to say yes that’s a concussion, that’s not a concussion. But we’ve got our symptoms, we’ve got our questions, we’ve got our computer tests, that’s our package at the moment. That’s what we go on.”Unlike cricketers, AFL and NRL footballers who suffer blows to the head are taken from the field for a 20-minute period to be assessed and reduce the risk of further blows in case of a delayed concussion reaction. Brukner said he expected that cricket would eventually follow the football codes and introduce such a system.”There’s a lot of things on the table at the moment about concussion subs and all that sort of stuff,” he said. “It’s complicated. I think the football codes feel that 20 minutes is about right. It would be nice to take someone off for 20 minutes. I think ultimately something will come in on those lines. I think it’s got to, these days.”The climate is out there and cricket will do it … After that five minutes out there, if I’d had doubts, I’d have said come off – you can have a replacement, it’s not as if you can’t bat again – come off and we’ll do a more thorough assessment. There was no indication to me out there that that was required. The next stage is to take them off and fully assess them. But he seemed fine to me, so I felt comfortable to keep him out there.”

Australian pace bowler Michael Hogan took two late wickets to enable Glamorgan to finish on equal terms with Hampshire at the end of the first day at the Ageas Bowl.

02-Aug-2013
ScorecardMichael Hogan’s proved the most effective bowler for Glamorgan•Getty Images

Australian pace bowler Michael Hogan took two late wickets to enable Glamorgan to finish on equal terms with Hampshire at the end of the first day at the Ageas Bowl. Hampshire, recovering from a poor start after being put in, finished on 261 for 6 from 85.1 overs when bad light brought a premature end to proceedings.Hogan dismissed Sean Ervine and nightwatchman Danny Briggs after Hampshire had threatened a recovery. Former Western Australian Hogan finished the day with creditable figures of 4 for 66 and his victims also included the day’s top scorer, the in-form Michael Carberry.After the first hour had been lost to rain, Glamorgan captain Mark Wallace gambled on fielding first and with the wicket as troublesome early on as it often is, Hampshire were reduced to 4 for 2. The lively Hogan broke through at the end of the third over when Hampshire captain Jimmy Adams, struggling for runs lately, edged to Wallace behind the stumps for a single.Next man Liam Dawson made the same before being trapped by John Glover in the sixth but Glamorgan’s successes then became much rarer as the wicket eased.England candidate Carberry, particularly powerful in the Twenty20 competition but with a Championship century in his last match against Kent, fell six short of another. This was after he and Neil McKenzie had taken the game away from Glamorgan a little in a stand of 130 for the third wicket in 45 overs, each batsman taking advantage of Hogan’s rest periods by punishing those that followed him.Left-arm spinner Dean Cosker removed McKenzie to a catch at the wicket at 134 before Hogan returned to the attack to have Carberry edging behind in sight of his 29th first-class century. Carberry hit 16 fours and always looked in control after a circumspect start but his departure only heralded another major partnership.James Vince and Ervine added another 90 in 20 overs for the fifth wicket, taking the score to 246. Ervine, as belligerent as ever, hit Hogan for three fours in an over but at the start of the next, Hogan got his revenge thanks to a slip catch by Marcus North.Briggs followed at 260 to Wallace’s fourth catch of the day but Vince was in imperious form, reaching his half-century just before the close, ending 51 not out from 98 balls.

Allrounder Angelo Mathews copes with pressure ‘better than anybody else’, according to Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene

Sa'adi Thawfeeq19-Jun-2012Allrounder Angelo Mathews copes with pressure ‘better than anybody else’, according to Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene. His unbeaten 80 that took Sri Lanka to victory in the match and the series against Pakistan on Monday should silence his critics, Jayawardene said.”A lot of people ask about his role in the team and he justified his place,” he said. “I don’t know why this question keeps popping up. Angelo has done well with the ball and he has done well with the bat. He is a quality allrounder and he handles pressure than anybody else I’ve seen.”It’s not the first time he has done this for us, he has done it quite often. Some of the other times he has bought us close and maybe hasn’t been able to finish the game off, but from nowhere he has the ability to bring us into the game.”Jayawardene put his team’s success in the series down to them having handled challenges better than Pakistan. “We handled most of the tough situations better than the Pakistanis, and the fielding standards were much better that was the difference in the series.”It wasn’t an easy series and we knew that is how it would be from the beginning; credit to the entire team for working really hard. A lot of guys showed a lot of composure in handling difficult situations … Thisara [Perera], Lasith [Malinga], Kula [Nuwan Kulasekara], and with the bat most of the guys. What’s important is that we take forward the positives from the series.”This is the first ODI series win for Sri Lanka since they made the World Cup final in April 2011, and Jayawardene said he hoped the victory would put his team in the right frame of mind for the Tests that begin in Galle on Friday. “We’ve played some really good cricket, but we didn’t have anything to show for it; it has been a lot of hard work in the last 12 months for us, and hopefully continue to improve as a team.”The Test series is always going to be big challenge, but winning is a good habit to have so hopefully we can continue this momentum. We have some experienced players coming in for the Tests. It’s going to be a great opportunity for us. It’s important that we start fresh and start well.”

Essex condemned Unicorns to their sixth Clydesdale Bank 40 defeat in as many matches as they coasted to an eight-wicket victory in today’s Group C match at Chelmsford

22-May-2011
ScorecardEssex condemned Unicorns to their sixth Clydesdale Bank 40 defeat in as many matches as they coasted to an eight-wicket victory in today’s Group C match at Chelmsford.After restricting their opponents to a modest 183 for 9, Essex triumphed with 14 balls to spare to preserve their season’s unbeaten record in the competition. An unbroken third-wicket partnership of 149 between opener Mark Pettini and Matt Walker, both of who scored half-centuries, saw the hosts home after Adam Wheater was caught at slip without scoring and Owais Shah fell victim to an unlucky dismissal with the total on 35.Shah, making his debut for the county following his return from the Indian Premier League, had made 13 when he was run out – bowler Dan Wheeldon deflecting a straight drive from Pettini onto the stumps with the batsman out of his ground.That was the last time the Unicorns had anything to celebrate, with Pettini and Walker underlining the gulf in class between the two sides. Pettini stroked his way to 88 runs from 106 balls, including nine fours and a six, while Walker’s 71 from 94 deliveries contained eight fours.Paceman Wheeldon was the pick of the Unicorns bowlers with figures of one for 25 from his eight overs, three of which were maidens. Former Hampshire batsman Chris Benham was the rock of the visitors’ innings, hitting an unbeaten 54 from 85 balls, an effort that contained just three fours. Mike Thornley and Glen Querl were the other main contributors with 36 and 23 respectively.Hopes of Unicorns setting Essex a testing challenge were dashed by Chris Wright, whose accuracy and hostility brought him figures of four wickets for 20 runs from eight overs. The pace bowler could have reaped a richer harvest, beating the bat without reward on several occasions.For good measure Wright also took a fine catch low down on the long-on boundary to remove Thornley and provide Lonwabo Tsotsobe with his only success at a cost of 39 runs. Left-arm spinner Tim Phillips picked up 2 for 33 from his eight overs, while 17-year-old Reece Topley and Graham Napier each finished with one wicket.As the game unfolded, Essex were able to celebrate victory by the same margin as when the sides met a fortnight ago.

New Zealand Cricket has said that it would like to resume cricketing ties with Zimbabwe, following a fruitful meeting between the sports ministers of the two countries

Cricinfo staff15-Jun-2010In what is another positive development for Zimbabwe as a host of sporting events, New Zealand Cricket has said that it would like to resume cricketing ties with the country, following a fruitful meeting between the sports ministers of the two countries in Wellington earlier this week.David Coltart, the Zimbabwe sports minister, met his New Zealand counterpart, Murray McCully and the positive result of the meeting was the change of stance by the New Zealand government regarding cricketing tours to the southern African nation. NZC chief executive Justin Vaughan confirmed that he later met Coltart at Christchurch and was convinced the climate was conducive to resuming ties.”I am aware that the Minister for Sport and Recreation, Murray McCully, had a positive meeting with Mr Coltart in Wellington earlier this week,” Vaughan said. “It is clear from that meeting that our government’s position is that they would not oppose the Black Caps touring Zimbabwe next year.”The tour by the Black Caps in May 2011 was the principal topic of my discussion with Mr Coltart, however we are also considering the possibility of other cricketing exchanges, such as the potential for a New Zealand A team to tour Zimbabwe at some stage in the near future.”New Zealand had been reluctant to send any of its teams to the country over the last few years, citing the unstable political and security situation. The side was due to tour last year but rescheduled the trip for June 2010. However, New Zealand wanted it to be postponed again to 2011 or play the series in a neutral venue after the New Zealand government assessed the security situation and gave a negative report.Though New Zealand have indicated a change of heart with regard to touring Zimbabwe, Vaughan said the standard protocol of security checks will be followed before confirming any tour.”It is important to stress that any tour by New Zealand cricket teams to Zimbabwe would need to be prefaced by full safety and security checks, which are standard practice for New Zealand Cricket,” Vaughan said.Cricket in Zimbabwe has undergone a facelift in recent months, with an improvement in the basic facilities and domestic structure. That has translated itself into better performances in the field, with recent victories against India and West Indies.Zimbabwe also successfully hosted the tri-series involving India and Sri Lanka and the sport got a big boost when the team made it to the final of the tournament. Zimbabwe Cricket is also optimistic of returning to Test cricket in 2011.

Warwickshire strike early but captain’s innings keeps rivals at bay

ECB Reporters Network09-Sep-2024Club captain Brett D’Oliveira struck his fourth successive half-century since returning from injury to inspire another Worcestershire recovery on the opening day of the Vitality County Championship derby with Warwickshire at Visit Worcestershire New Road.D’Oliveira had come to the wicket just over a week ago with Worcestershire 10 for 4 on the opening morning versus Essex at Chelmsford and his 68 helped his side rally to 266 all out on their way to a 43-run success. That followed his 97 during the home win over Kent and for good measure he hit another 51 in the second innings against Essex.Here, his side were struggling at 67 for 4 in testing conditions when he walked out to the middle and was again the cornerstone of a fightback with the top score of 76.D’Oliveira received excellent support from Adam Hose, fit again Matthew Waite and Logan van Beek in partnerships of 49, 76 and 43.He had missed the entire Metro Bank One-Day Cup campaign whilst having extensive rehab to a shoulder problem which has troubled him for the past year. But the treatment seems to have paid handsome dividends for the 32-year-old who has been in prime form since the Championship programme recommenced.Waite also made his mark with a fluent half-century on his return to action after nearly two months on the sidelines with a side strain.Oliver Hannon-Dalby, the leading wicket-taker in Division One, added three more scalps to take his tally for the season to 46 and again bowled impressively.Worcestershire gave a Championship debut to young Academy pace bowler Jack Home who last week signed a three-year contract after taking 16 wickets in five games in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup.Warwickshire made one change from the side which had defeated Kent with spinner Danny Briggs replacing Jacob Bethell.Warwickshire skipper Alex Davies put the home side into bat on a wicket where the bounce was variable, particularly when bowling from the New Road End, and Hannon-Dalby made the first breakthrough when Jake Libby pushed forward to a delivery which nipped away and was caught behind.Kashif Ali, who had scored two centuries in the corresponding game at Edgbaston, provided keeper Michael Burgess with another catch off former Worcestershire allrounder Ed BarnardGareth Roderick had his middle stump knocked back by Michael Rae and then Ethan Brookes, promoted to No. 4, was lbw to Hannon-Dalby on his return to the attack with a delivery which swung back in. Hose and D’Oliveira battled through to lunch at 77 for 4 from 30 overs.D’Oliveira pulled Rushworth for four to bring up the 100 in 39.3 overs. The fifth wicket pair extended their partnership to 49 but Hose, having battled for nearly two hours for 33, drove at Barnard and was pouched at second slipWaite was full of positive intent from the start and collected four boundaries at Barnard’s expense in two overs.He was the dominate figure in a half-century partnership with D’Oliveira and completed his own fifty from 71 balls with nine fours.The afternoon session produced 111 runs from 34 overs for the loss of one wicket. But Waite added only one more run before he was lbw to Rae after he switched ends to end a stand of 76.D’Oliveira reached another excellent half century from 115 balls when he late cut Briggs for his seventh boundary. He found another staunch ally in van Beek in adding 43 for the seventh wicket but on 76 was finally caught low down at first slip by Yates off Will Rhodes.The second new ball accounted for van Beek with a third scalp for Hannon-Dalby thanks to Yates again showing a safe pair of hands, this time at second slip.But Home, who hit Barnard for the first six of the game backward of square, and Tom Taylor earned Worcestershire a precious batting point before the close during an unbroken stand of 52.

Suryakumar, Wadhera hit fifties as Mumbai win with 21 balls and six wickets to spare

Shashank Kishore09-May-20232:29

Moody: RCB will be shattered as a bowling unit

If ever you needed an example of a team walking home in a 200 chase without any stress, this was it. And in doing so, Mumbai Indians fired their IPL 2023 campaign into orbit as they made a stunning climb from No. 8 to No. 3 after razing Royal Challengers Bangalore in another six-fest at the Wankhede.At the forefront of their march were Suryakumar Yadav and Nehal Wadhera, who put together 140 off just 64 balls in a sensational spell of on-demand boundary hitting that had seasoned bowlers such as Josh Hazlewood, Wanindu Hasaranga and Harshal Patel searching for answers.From 101 needed off 60, Suryakumar’s pyrotechnics that brought him his IPL best – a 35-ball 83 – brought the equation down to 8 off 26 when he walked off to a standing ovation. It was his fourth fifty-plus score in his last six outings, marking a sensational turnaround in fortunes after a cold first half.Suryakumar’s partner for much of that innings, Wadhera, made the most of his promotion up the order in Tilak Varma’s absence due to a niggle. The ferocity of their partnership had a deflating effect on RCB, who now join a cluttered mid-table that has four teams on 10 points with a possibility of a fifth joining there on Wednesday night.

Behrendorff’s powerplay act

Long before there was an inkling of what was to come, Jason Behrendorff set the stage alight at Wankhede by stinging his former team with the wickets of Virat Kohli and Anuj Rawat. Kohli was out giving him the charge off his fourth ball, nicking a heave that was overturned through DRS, while Rawat’s top edge to an attempted scoop landed in Cameron Green’s lap as he ran back from slip.Prior to the double-strike, Behrendorff could’ve also had du Plessis first ball if Wadhera hadn’t dropped him at midwicket. Du Plessis, though, made them pay along with Glenn Maxwell as the pair quickly offset RCB’s early losses to fire them from 16 for 2 to 56 for 2 after six overs.

The Maxwell-Faf show

RCB’s soft middle order has been a cause for concern all season, but Maxwell and du Plessis weren’t going to die wondering. In fact, du Plessis took two fours off Chawla and continued the attack against Green. On the other side of the powerplay, Maxwell welcomed Chris Jordan – Jofra Archer’s replacement in the XI – by pumping him for two sixes in his very first over to raise the half-century of the partnership off just 25 balls. As it turned out, it was just the start of the mayhem that was to follow.Du Plessis was all muscle, backing away to swing cleanly if he wasn’t lofting through the line on instinct. Maxwell was a mix of the inventive and the ridiculous, switch-hitting, slog-sweeping, scooping and reverse-ramping his way, treating the bowling with such disdain that you wondered if Mumbai were in for a target in the vicinity of 230. The pair had put on 120 off just 60 balls when Maxwell dragged one across the line to deep midwicket for a 33-ball 68.Suryakumar Yadav celebrates after bringing up his half-century off 26 balls•BCCI

The RCB slowdown

RCB would lose Mahipal Lomror and du Plessis, for a 45-ball 61, in the next two overs to expose that brittle lower middle order. It’s at this point that RCB decided to summon their Impact Player by bringing in Kedar Jadhav. It was now on him and Dinesh Karthik to give the finishing kick.Karthik struggled for rhythm, but flicked a switch from 8 off 7, to slam Kumar Kartikeya’s left-arm spin in the 18th over. But his dismissal with 11 balls left had RCB shortchanged. Akash Madhwal, the rookie seamer, delivered an excellent final over, only his second in the game, that went for six as RCB finished with 199; the last five had just brought them 48 runs.

The Kishan turbocharge

Five runs, four innings, two ducks.Rohit Sharma shredded that with a ferocious flat-bat off Hazlewood first ball. Ishan Kishan followed Rohit’s cue to take the attack to Mohammed Siraj, flicking and whipping his way to sixes. In trying to sustain his onslaught against spin, he was out to Hasaranga after hitting him for a four and six. Two balls later, Rohit was out lbw to a delivery he tried to nudge against the turn to one that didn’t turn as much as he expected. Mumbai were up against it at 52 for 2 in five overs.

SKY takes over

Over the next five overs, Suryakumar and Wadhera kept up with the asking rate by playing risk-free cricket, before the flick was well and truly switched on. Hasaranga’s return to deliver the 11th with Mumbai needing 101 more led to a torrent as both batters picked a six apiece.Du Plessis now went back to Hazlewood to stifle the scoring, especially with Harshal Patel struggling for rhythm. But Suryakumar’s grand hitting behind the V, where he used pace to takedown Hazlewood and Siraj for sixes behind square on either side, left everyone awestruck. He brought up his half-century off just 26 balls, and then raised the tempo even more by nonchalantly lofting a slot-ball from Siraj into the second tier down the ground.By now, Suryakumar was seeing it like a football, so big that even a beamer aimed at his body was swatted away for six like it was child’s play. His dismissal to Vyshak Vijaykumar in a double-wicket over was somewhat of an anti-climax at the end, but by then the result was a foregone conclusion.Wadhera fittingly finished it off with a lofted six over cover to bring up a second-straight fifty. By then, Mumbai had razed down the fastest 200 chase in IPL history – with 21 balls to spare – and the second-fastest overall.