Mumbai Indians outplayed the Royal Challengers Bangalore to score their first win of the IPL 2015 campaign in Bengaluru on Sunday.

Mumbai Indians rode on half centuries from Lendl Simmons and Unmukt Chand; and a brilliant 42 from skipper Rohit Sharma to post 209 for 7. A superb bowling display in the Power-play, followed by a three-wicket spell from Harbhajan Singh helped the visitors restrict RCB to 191 and win the game by 18 runs.

Mumbai Indians had a clear plan to bowl to Chris Gayle; not to give the West Indian any pace. Malinga bowled a series of slower ones to Gayle, starting off with a maiden. First change Jasprit Bumrah followed the plan, and despite the young pacer struggling for his line early on, the RCB innings just could not gain any momentum.

Chris Gayle’s misery at the crease was ended by Harbhanjan as the offie disturbed the big man’s timber. Gayle scored 10 from 24 balls, and wasn’t allowed to hit even one four.

Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik tried their hands, but perished in pursuit of quick runs. The only man, who stood now between Mumbai Indians and victory was AB de Villiers. And although he had smashed 37 from the first nine balls, the pressure was mounting on the South African. Harbhajan removed Rilee Rossouw for a golden duck to complete 100 IPL wickets in his 100th IPL match. AB had to go after every ball, and eventually miss-timed one off Bumrah to give a simple catch to Pollard at long on. David Wiese and Iqbal Abdullah’s 58-run stand in 29 deliveries kept RCB in the game, but the asking rate always looked out of reach for the hosts.

Harbhajan’s spell of four overs (3-27) was priceless, as was the Mumbai Indian’s bowling in Power-play. It was a remarkable comeback by a side that had conceded 90 in the Power-play against Chennai Super Kings. On Sunday, they conceded just 33 against the likes of Chris Gayle.

Earlier, Mumbai Indians made good use of the batting Power-play after being put in to bat first. Parthiv Patel got the momentum going with back to back fours of Abu Nechim Ahmed in the third over. Simmons then smacked Varun Aaron for three consecutive fours in the next and followed it up with another couple of hits to the boundary off Ahmed. Patel was dismissed by Wiese off the penultimate delivery of the Power-play, but the visitors were well placed at 48-1 at the end of first six overs.

Unmukt Chand, back in the side after missing the previous game, started off with a couple of fours off Iqbal Abdulla. Simmons and Chand kept hitting the boundaries with ease. Simmons was the more aggressive of the two, while Chand played the second fiddle perfectly. Their 72-run stand from 46 balls set the platform for a total in excess of 200. Simmon’s 59 came off 44 balls (nine fours, two sixes), while Chand, who shifted gears after the West Indian’s dismissal, scored 58 from 37 balls (eight fours, two sixes).

With 120 runs on the board and six overs to play, Mumbai Indians still needed something special to get to 200, and that special came from skipper Rohit Sharma. His 15-ball 42 was exactly what the visitors needed to continue the onslaught, and Sharma did it in delightful style. His four sixes, three of them coming in one over from Ahmed, and three fours were all classical strokes, mixed with a bit of improvisation.

There was a mini collapse in the penultimate over as David Wiese got rid of Pollard, Rayudu and Sharma in the space of four deliveries. Hardik Pandya, making his IPL debut, ensured that the Paltan crossed the 200-run mark by smashing two sixes from the last over.