Bengaluru: Showing a refreshingly positive intent, Mumbai Indians' batsmen punished a sloppy Royal Challengers Bangalore to post 209 for seven after being asked to bat first in the Indian Premier League T20 game here on Sunday.
Though Mumbai Indians, who have lost all their four games thus far, continued to chop, change and experiment with their batting line-up, opener Lendl Simmons (59, 44b, 9x4, 2x6) and India Under-19 captain young Unmukt Chand (58, 37b, 8x4, 2x6) laid the foundation for a tall score.
Simmons and Chand put on 72 runs for the second wicket after the early exit of Parthiv Patel (12) to lay a solid foundation for a big total.
Joining in the mayhem was skipper Rohit Sharma (42, 15b, 3x4, 4x6), coming in at No.4 instead of his customary opening slot, as RCB captain Virat Kohli was left to rue his decision to field first on winning the toss.
Rohit Sharma, batting quite beautifully, added 63 runs for the third wicket with Chand who proved to be a revelation as the youngster performed exceedingly well.
Except for the first over bowled by left-arm spinner Iqbal Abdullah, who conceded just two runs with the new ball, the RCB attack appeared toothless as the visiting batsmen made merry.
Seamers Varun Aaron leaked 50 runs in his four overs while fellow paceman Abu Nachim was slammed for 43 in his three before South African all-rounder David Wiese, playing his first game this IPL season, restored some sanity by taking three wickets in his fourth over to finish with four for 32.
Wiese, who had foxed opener Parthiv Patel with a slower delivery, also removed Kieron Pollard (5), Ambati Rayudu (0) and Rohit Sharma in four balls, but by then the Mumbai Indians had a 200-plus total in their sight.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians 209 for 7 in 20 overs (Lendl Simmons 59, Unmukt Chand 58, Rohit Sharma 42, David Wiese 4 for 33, Yuzvendra Chahal 2 for 28) vs Royal Challengers Bangalore.
