Simmons, Unmukt power MI to 209/7

Lendl Simmons and Unmukt Chand smashed strokeful half-centuries to power Mumbai Indians to an imposing 209 for seven against Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL-8 on Sunday. At the time of going to the press, RCB were 30/1 with Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli at the crease.

Opening the batting Simmons made 59 off 44 balls with the help of nine boundaries and two sixes, while Unmukt smashed his way to 58 off just 37 balls which included eight fours and two hits over the fence to set the stage for Mumbai’s score. Skipper Rohit Sharma also played a 15-ball 42-run cameo to help Mumbai’s cause. He clobbered the RCB bowlers to all parts of the ground and in the process hit three fours and four huge sixes. Towards the end, young Hardik Pandya used his long handle to great effect to pile up unbeaten 16 runs off just six deliveries for Mumbai.

For RCB, debutant David Wiese was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 44 for 33 from his four overs, while young leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal picked up two wickets giving away 28 runs. Rohit went hammer and tongs towards the end as Mumbai scored 77 runs in the last five overs of the innings before he was caught by Weise off his own bowling.

Sent into bat, Pathiv Patel and Simmons gave a solid start to MI innings putting on 47 runs for the opening wicket in 35 balls. While Simmons looked at ease at the wicket, Parthiv looked a bit rusty. Patel struck two boundaries during his short stay at the crease.