11:53pm And...breathe. A classic IPL contest between two storied franchises and it ultimately swayed in RCB's direction, who now have six points out of a possible eight. MI have not hit those heights yet, and currently languish towards the foot of the table, knowing that if a turnaround is to materialize, it needs to materialize quickly.

We hope you enjoyed our coverage and we will be back to do it all over again tomorrow. Not once but twice with a double-header lined up. Until then, on behalf of Chetan and myself (Shashwat), this is goodbye. Take care, folks!

Rajat Patidar, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru captain is also the Player of the Match: It was a really amazing match. It was very hard. The way the bowlers have shown their courage, it was amazing to watch. This award goes to the bowling unit. It is not easy to stop any team, especially at this ground, and the way they have done it, was incredible. The way the fast bowlers executed their plans was amazing. The way KP (Krunal Pandya) bowled that last over, it was not easy and the way he bowled was amazing. The way he has shown the courage was fantastic. It was pretty clear (at the second time-out) that we had to take the game as much deep as we can, and then we can use one over of KP at the last. The wicket was really amazing to bat on. Typical Mumbai wicket, and the ball was coming nicely onto the bat with bounce. (On when they decided to cut loose with the bat) After the over of Hardik, I decided I had to go all-out and not worry about the wicket. (On Suyash Sharma) In this format, wrist-spinner is the main bowler, a wicket-taking bowler. The way he has bowled from the shorter end, it was amazing to see. (On his batting) I was just trying to impact the game and put pressure on the bowlers.

Sampath with an amazing stat. Only two teams have defeated KKR at Eden, CSK at Chepauk and MI at Wankhede in the same IPL season:

Kings XI Punjab (Punjab Kings now) in 2012

Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2025

Hardik Pandya, Mumbai Indians captain: It was a run-fest. The wicket was really good. I was just talking about that to myself. We fell short with two hits, don't know what to say. The way the wicket was, the bowlers did not really have much space to hide. It came down to execution. You can stop the batters, but I don't want to be harsh on the bowlers. It was a tough track, not much options. 5-10, maybe 12 runs I can say (we conceded more). The original skeleton of our team, Naman was batting down the order. In the last game, Ro (Rohit) was unavailable, so someone had to be pushed up. He has that multi-dimensional game. Once Ro was back, we knew Naman would have to come down. Tilak was fantastic. A lot of things happened in the last game, people made a lot of things. They did not know he had a nasty hit the previous day. Because of the finger he had, the coach felt it was a better option if someone fresh could come in (and do it). But today he was fantastic. In this sort of a game, powerplays are crucial. Couple of overs, we were not able to get (enough runs) in the middle and that pushed us back. They executed well at the death and we could not play it well. Having him (Bumrah) makes this team, any team in the world really special. He came and did his job, very happy to have him. In life, never back down, always see the positive side of it. the message will be very clear: go out there and try to play the best cricket of your life. We are all backing them and hope for the result to come our way.

Krunal Pandya: (On how tough it is to play against Hardik) The bond that we have, at the end of the day, we knew only one (Pandya) would win. But the love and affection we have for each other is very natural. He batted well. We won, and I also wanted to win, he also wanted to win. I feel for him. When I came on to bowl, when Santner was batting, the leg-side was shorter. The amount of games I have played in the last ten years, whatever experience I had, it had to come in, right. Sometimes, you want to commit but you know it is important to commit 100%, so the execution becomes much on your side. I was clear in a way where I wanted to commit fully to whatever ball I wanted to bowl. (On working with Andy Flower) It has been fun. We were there for two years at LSG and we had a great run, I led also for three games. The way we are going as a team, winning three (out of four), we are in a good headspace. Great to play under Andy. (On Patidar and Jitesh) Rajat has been terrific the way he has started. A captain who gives you that comfort, he gives you the ball and backs your game-plan. Sometimes as a bowler, you want that. He has a calm demeanour, does not make things complicated. Been good playing under him. Jitesh has been terrific, he has improved his game. The game awareness while batting has been top-notch, and with the gloves, he has been terrific always. Working hard and seeing the result, it feels good in a way. (On if they can go all the way) I don't want to jinx it or say it, but we all know what you want at the end of the season. Just want to keep my head down and keep winning.

11:26pm Phew. What a game. It ebbed, and it flowed. Then it ebbed again, and then it flowed again. RCB were on top. They were on top until Hardik got to the crease. And then, through three or four overs for madness and pure carnage, they were suddenly behind. With 52 needed off 24, and with Hardik and Tilak at the crease, MI would have fancied their chances. Both, though, fell relatively close together, and that left Dhir as a potential protagonist. He tried his best but could not muster enough boundaries to take MI past the finish line.

Lots of credit must also go to RCB. They were under the pump, with the crowd egging MI on and their batters on a rampage. When push came to shove, however, RCB held their nerve, producing a sizzling display of death-bowling, which might have been touted as a weakness prior to the start of the season. Bhuvneshwar, Dayal and Hazlewood all did their job, before Krunal closed it out. A huge shoutout to Suyash as well, who may have travelled in his final over, but played a big role as RCB squeezed MI, and as RCB forced SKY into an uncharacteristic innings and then a fatal mistake.

A legal ball and RCB will be home