Just when it looked like Royal Challengers Bangalore had ticked most boxes on Monday night at the Dubai International Stadium, Mumbai Indian’s Kieron Pollard (60 n.o, 24b, 3×4, 5×6) and Ishan Kishan (99,58b, 2×4, 9×6) decided to party popper, well almost.
For the second night on the trot, the Indian Premier League witnessed a desert storm, an astounding display of batting brilliance and heart stopping moments in plenty.
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With a mammoth 90 needed off 30 balls, Mumbai Indians rode on the brilliance of Kishan and the towering West Indians and almost crossed the finishing line. Needing 19 runs off the last over, Sri Lankan left-arm pacer Isara Udana put breaks to send the match into a Super Over after the match was tied at 201.
After Navdeep Saini restricted Mumbai to seven in the Super Over, Ab de Villiers and Virat Kohli saw the team through to a thrilling win, with the latter finishing with a boundary off Jasprit Bumrah.

Earlier, opener Aaron Finch (52, 35b 7×4, 1×6) weighed in with his experience while his rookie partner Devdutt Padikkal (54, 40b, 5×4, 2×6) checked into the crease with maturity and calmness. The result: A solid platform for AB de Villiers (55 n.o, 24b, 4×4, 4×6) to showcase his flair and flamboyance. Finch and Padikkal did well to counter the new-ball pair of Trent Boult (2/34) and James Pattison and raced to 59 in power play.
It took a slower one from Boult to break the 81-run association as Finch, who did not come out to field following an injury, handed Pollard a sitter at long-off. RCB skipper Kohli, who came in next, was rusty and as a result, the boundaries dried up and RCB went without a big hit for almost five overs. Soon, Kohli returned to the dugout after his half-hearted shot off leggie Rahul Chahar was taken by Rohit Sharma at extra cover.
With De Villiers at the other end, Padikkal hit the accelerator again with back-to-back maximums off Pattison in the 14th over. Padikkal made a statement of talent with the shots which came off the front foot first and then the back foot.
Boult used another slower one to lure Padikkal for a big one, which did not go the distance and was taken by Pollard. But there was no respite for Mumbai, as ABD, in the company of Shivam Dube (27 n.o) ensured 65 runs in the last four overs.
RCB handed De Villiers the wicketkeeping duties instead of Josh Phillippe, who made way for Zampa. Sri Lankan Udana, the other RCB debutant, replaced Dale Steyn. Gurkeerat Mann came in for Umesh Yadav.