Ponting's Mumbai secure first victory

Ricky Ponting has recorded his first ever victory as an IPL coach, his Mumbai Indians grabbing their first win of this year's tournament despite a stunning counter-attack from AB de Villiers and a fine all-round performance from Royal Challengers Bangalore debutant David Wiese.

In a high-scoring game on flat surface in Bangalore, Mumbai overcame their batting woes and managed to post 7-209 batting first, while the Royal Challengers started poorly before an amazing finish to the match meant they fell only 18 runs short.

Half-centuries for Lendl Simmons and Unmukt Chand and a late-order charge from captain Rohit Sharma paved the way for Mumbai’s first 200-plus score of the season before Harbhajan Singh’s three-wicket haul overshadowed de Villiers's 11-ball 41 and Wiese's late-order fireworks.

Highlights of De Villiers's record-breaking knock

Before this game, Mumbai’s starts with the bat had been below-par; they were 3-37 against the Kolkata Knight Riders, 6-59 against Punjab, 3-45 against Rajasthan and 3-12 last start against Chennai.

So when the opening pair of Parthiv Patel and Lendl Simmons added 47 for the first wicket in this match, the Indians would have thought their fortunes were turning.

Simmons had led Mumbai’s resurrection last season and it was the West Indian yet again who pushed his team forward with his batting. He took on Varun Aaron in the Powerplay, cracking him for a pull shot in his opening over and then following it up with three fours from four balls in his second.

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Lendl Simmons gave Mumbai a flying start // BCCI

Another couple of boundaries followed in the next over from Abu Nechim as Mumbai marched towards their best start of the competition by some distance.

Patel’s innings ended when, after hitting a couple of well-timed boundaries, he inside-edged a Wiese delivery back on to his stumps. Wiese would follow it up with another choking second over that cost him just three, ending his first spell on 1-5 from two overs.

If the opening duo had laid the foundation, Simmons and Unmukt took advantage of it.

Unmukt began with a couple of boundaries in the seventh off Iqbal Abdulla and repeated the dose against Yuzvendra Chahal. Simmons took on Abdulla as well and sent one over the long-on fence for a six to take Mumbai to 1-83 at the halfway stage.

Aaron, who had conceded 24 from his first two overs during the Powerplay, was held back until later in the innings, but neither his luck nor his control changed in his second spell that lasted just one over. An attempted bouncer was nearly hooked over the roof of the stadium and Simmons followed that six up with two more fours.

Later, Aaron would come back to concede another 13 and end his four-over quota with 0-50, bringing his economy rate for the tournament to just short of 11 runs an over.

Simmons completed his half-century and was picked up soon after by Chahal, but Unmukt kept up the momentum. Captain Rohit Sharma, who had held himself back instead of batting in the top order, came out blazing as well and together they added 63 runs in just 4.1 overs.

Having given away just five runs from his first two overs, Wiese was taken for 19 in his third - including four boundaries - and when he came back on for his fourth, the 19th of the innings, Kieron Pollard looked to be in the mood to continue that punishment as he smacked him for a first-ball four.

Except the over turned Bangalore’s fortunes; Pollard pulled the second ball straight to the deep square-leg fielder before Ambati Rayudu fell in the same manner.

Sharma drove Wiese through the covers to avert the hat-trick but was dismissed the very next ball from a slow bouncer to make it three wickets in the over. Having conceded 19 runs in his third over, Weise had taken 4-14 from his remaining three.

Sharma's 42 had come from 15 balls and included one of the most audacious shots of the tournament. A delivery from Nechim that was deliberately bowled wide outside the off stump was check-swept by Sharma over mid-wicket for a six.

Nechim went on to concede 16 from the final over of the innings as Mumbai finished with 7-209 in their 20 overs.

One of Mumbai’s two issues so far in this tournament - their batting starts - had been resolved. The question was whether they could overcome their bowling troubles as well.

They were helped by Bangalore’s top-order who, in the post-match words of captain Virat Kohli, 'need to look at their approach to such targets'.

Needing more than 10 runs an over, rarely did the top three show any sign of wanting to accelerate, almost as if they were content to play out the first few overs.

The first wicket fell when Manvinder Bisla was bowled by Harbhajan having failed to read the off-spinner's quicker ball. Bisla had at least shown some aggression; he had hit a couple of fours off Mitchell McClenaghan before two more off Harbhajan.

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Mavinder Bisla is bowled by Harbhajan Singh // BCCI

At the other end, Chris Gayle started by offering a straight-forward chance from the second ball he faced - which was put down by Simmons in the covers - and he went into his shell after that.

Not often does Gayle bat for 23 balls in this format and not hit a single boundary. Especially not when the target is 210 from 20 overs. And while credit must be given to the manner in which Lasith Malinga bowled, starting off with an array of slower balls in a first over maiden and then conceding just four singles from his next, the lack of intent was stark.

When the fielding restrictions were relaxed after six overs, Bangalore were 1-33, with the required-rate had soared to almost 13 an over.

Gayle was dropped for a second time soon after - Malinga spilling one off Jasprit Bumrah at short fine-leg - but two balls later, Harbhajan got the better of him with a top-spinner that disturbed the furniture.

It was Harbhajan's second wicket, and he would come back to strike for a third time in his final over, clean bowling Rilee Rossouw for a duck. For a bowler to finish with figures of 3-27 in a chase of 210 against a side full of quality batsmen was a quality performance.

Kohli fared no better than Gayle, taking eight balls to hit his first four before he sliced McClenaghan straight to the deep point fielder. Bangalore were now 3-62 with the run-rate less than six and the side needed 15.57 an over when de Villiers walked out to bat.

Within 10 deliveries, he had almost turned the game on its head.

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De Villiers gets creative in his whirlwind innings // BCCI

The South African's first 10 deliveries read 4, 6, 4, 4, 1, 6, 2, 4 and 4 before he was out from the 11th ball he faced when he mis-timed a Bumrah delivery to the long-on fielder. 

Even after de Villiers was dismissed, Wiese tried to make it a memorable IPL debut for him and his side, with a thundering 25-ball 47 to follow his four-wicket haul. 

His sixth wicket partnership with Iqbal Abdulla yielded 58 runs from 29 balls, ensuring Bangalore would not only narrow the margin of defeat to just 18 runs but also run the Mumbai Indians close by the end.

What it also did was to raise questions about the way Bangalore had started out their chase, something they will need to correct when they take on the Chennai Super Kings on Wednesday. Mumbai play Delhi on Thursday at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium.