Raipur, May 10 (PTI) Krunal Pandya on Sunday said it was Bhuvneshwar Kumar who played the “shot of the match” at the fag end as Royal Challengers Bengaluru clinched a low-scoring thriller by two wickets to knock Mumbai Indians out of contention for the Indian Premier League playoffs here.
With nine runs needed off the last three balls, Bhuvneshwar, who had earlier returned splendid figures of 4-0-23-4, hit a six over cover off Raj Bawa to bring the equation down to 3 runs required off the last two deliveries.
RCB won by two wickets in a last-ball thriller, riding on Pandya’s 73 off 46 balls with five sixes and four fours.
“The shot Bhuvi played was the shot of the match. It was a wicket where you had to play cricketing shots. You had to get into good positions and you had to apply and grind,” Pandya said.
Pandya suffered from cramps towards the end of his innings, but produced a match-winning effort for RCB who went to the top of the IPL 2026 points table.
“It’s fine, (I suffered a) lot of cramps. Now onwards I guess I will take of lot of fluids and food. I was cramping a lot. It started from calf, went to glutes and went to my back. It was something new for me.
“(But) what matters is those two points. I love tough situations as I am always prepared. I look forward to doing it when things are tough.” Bhuvneshwar, who took three wickets or more for the sixth time in this IPL, said he would remember his six with the bat from this match.
“The six for sure, because I have bowled many times and taken few wickets, but the six, I will enjoy the most,” he said.
Talking about his consistency, Bhuvneshwar said, “Honestly, motivation is a very over-rated word for me. You read some quote or watch a video and get motivated for a few days.
“That fades away quickly. Discipline keeps me going. My physios help me remain in shape. I think everything depends on the wicket as well. Today the wicket was two-paced.
“The good thing is that throughout the year I am getting match practice and enough breaks to recharge myself. When you do what you want to do, you feel confident. Crucial two points for us. If we lost that one, we would be under pressure but we did well to get the two points,” he added.
RCB skipper Rajat Patidar said his side did not deserve to win the match as they left it for the tail to finish the job despite their batting depth.
“I think the bowlers did a tremendous job restricting them to 166. But to be honest, I don’t think we deserved to win the match because with our batting lineup, we should be chasing this target easily,” he said.
Mumbai Indians’ stand-in skipper Suryakumar Yadav said he had faith in Raj Bawa to pull off the game in the final over with 15 to defend. Apart from the six he conceded to Bhuvneshwar, Bawa also gave away five extra runs.
MI had also erred in the game earlier by bringing in spinner Raghu Sharma as impact substitute for Rohit Sharma, to bowl on a pitch where fast bowlers made the most of the conditions.
“He had been practicing that (death bowling) really well and he was a complete different all rounder this year and almost pulled it off for us. But I think we were 10-15 runs short,” Suryakumar said. PTI DDV PDS
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