If you watch T20 cricket for thrills, spills, and close encounters, then match 20 of IPL 2025 was right up your alley. Put into bat by Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya at the Wankhede Stadium, Royal Challengers Bangalore posted a total of 221/5 on the back of a fine innings from Virat Kohli, skipper Rajat Patidar and Jitesh Sharma, and then after facing a serious challenge at the death, held out for a 12-run win over the home team. 

This was RCB’s first win over MI at the Wankhede since 2015. 

That the IPL is a batsman’s game is well known, and here too over 400 runs were scored in 40 overs. But RCB’s spearhead Josh Hazlewood stood up for bowlers all around the league to bring his franchise back into the match by dismissing the dangerous Hardik Pandya for 42 off a mere 15 deliveries, having earlier taken out MI opener Ryan Rickleton in the fourth over.

Such clutch bowling performances were crucial to RCB claiming a narrow win over MI, and even though Hazlewood was smashed for 22 runs in one over, the fact that he conceded just 15 from his other three underlines the value of experience and a calm head. 

The one bright spart for MI was the return of Jasprit Bumrah, after three months out of the game following the back injury sustained in January during a Test in Australia. Where MI conceded 221 runs in 20 overs, Bumrah allowed only 29 from his four in what was a pleasing comeback. That said, the sight of Kohli smacking Bumrah’s first ball to him for six told a tale of how purposeful RCB’s batting was. 

After Trent Boult cleaned up Phil Salt in the game’s first over, Kohli batted with intent to score 36 off 19 balls during the Powerplay, which brought 73 runs for RCB. Devdutt Padikkal shrugged off his strike-rate issues with a valuable innings of 37 off 22 balls, and the left-hander dominated that partnership with Kohli. 

Kohli’s 42-ball 67 was a fine example of how well he can bat when in the mood, and then came excellent contributions from Patidar (64 off 32) and Jitesh (40* off 19). Patidar and Jitesh added the finishing touches on a dominant innings, pulling off some outrageous shots off Boult who ended with figures of 2/57 from four. 

Chasing 11 runs per over from the time their chase began, and despite the loss of Rohit Sharma cheaply once again – the move to bowl the left-arm pacer Yash Dayal to Rohit ahead of Hazlewood was a smart one from Patidar – Mumbai were 34/1 after three overs. 

Hazlewood then entered the game and won an lbw shout against Rickleton, and the Australian’s first two overs went for just six runs. Will Jacks and Suryakumar Yadav needed time to get going, and this allowed Patidar to maneuver his bowlers to keep RCB ahead. Krunal Pandya took out the struggling Jacks and Dayal returned to end Surya’s lame effort, which left MI on 116/4 after 13 overs.

Enter Hardik Pandya, who smashed his first three balls faced for 6,4,6 to dent Hazlewood’s figures. Then the young Pandya sibling targeted his brother, hitting the left-arm spinner for successive sixes. This sudden rush of madness brought MI back into the game, and Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya added 89 off 34 balls. But once Tilak was dismissed for a 29-ball 56 the chase gave way, with Hazlewood’s dismissal of the MI skipper leaving the home team to get 19 off the last over, bowled by Krunal Pandya. 

Some terrific outfield catching saw three wickets fall in the final over, as RCB closed out a riveting match.