Hardik Pandya's late cameo and a no-ball that wasn't called proved to be the difference in the end as Mumbai Indians opened their account in IPL 2019 with a win over Royal Challengers Bangalore at Bengaluru.
After a middle-order collapse, Hardik's late blitz helped MI post 187/8, which proved to be just a little too much for RCB despite the valiant efforts of Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers.
Here are the three main takeaways from MI's win over RCB:
Costly umpiring error costs RCB
"We are playing at the IPL level and not playing club cricket. The umpires should have had their eyes open. That is a ridiculous call. If it is a game of margins, I don't know what is happening. They should have been more sharp and careful out there."
Virat Kohli was understandably furious after a no-ball was not called off the final over of the innings. Needing seven to win off the last ball, Shivam Dube hit it down the ground to the long on fielder and they didn't even run.
However, replays showed that Lasith Malinga clearly overstepped and the umpire missed a huge call that could have changed the complexion of the game. So far, there have already been a lot of controversies and this is another one to add to that list.
Some things never change
It looks as though every year there is a revolving of batsmen who RCB try and every year they fail to find the right ones to surround AB de Villiers and Virat Kohli.
This year was supposed to be different but yet again as the game against MI showed, even if both players fire, the lack of support, cost RCB the game. While Kohli fell just short of a well-deserved fifty and was dismissed at the wrong time, AB was there till the end.
However, the Proteas batsman simply got no support from the other end and against two quality death bowlers in Bumrah and Malinga, there was only so much he could do.
Chahal's comeback
Bowling at the Chinnaswamy stadium isn't easy. Especially, if you are a spinner. But Yuzvendra Chahal continues to make a mockery of that as he went past 50 wickets at the stadium.
What was even more impressive about Chahal was his ability to bounce back after being hit. After getting rid of the dangerous De Kock, he looked in good rhythm but then Yuvraj Singh proceeded to hit him for three successive sixes in the 14th over.
Instead of going defensive, Chahal maintained his flight and made sure it was fourth time unlucky for Yuvraj. He then got rid of both Suryakumar Yadav and Kieron Pollard in quick succession to bring RCB back into the game as MI went from a comfortable 124 for 2 to 147 for 7.
Even if it was eventually in a losing cause, Chahal ensured that RCB weren't chasing in excess of 200 as