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Bowling first, MI restricted RR to just 909 – their first sub-100 total since 2011.
Here are the key highlights from the match:
Rajasthan Royals innings:
Openers were disappointing after previous match heroics: Rajasthan Royals openers Evin Lewis and Yashasvi Jaiswal, who laid a solid foundation, forming 77 runs for the opening wicket, against Chennai Super Kings, failed to score big against the Mumbai Indians. The duo put on just 27 runs for the first wicket. Lewis fell to Jasprit Bumrah for 24, while Yashaswi managed 12 before being dismissed by Nathan Coulter-Nile.
Yashasvi Jaiswal
A horror show in the middle-order; batsmen floored by Neesham, Coulter-Nile: MI pacers James Neesham, and Nathan Coulter-Nile wreaked havoc as the Kiwi-Ausie pace duo demolished the RR middle-order. After removing Yashasvi for 12, Coulter-Nile sent back Glenn Phillips (4), David Miller (15), and Chetan Sakariya (6) cheaply. Coulter-Nile got huge support from Neesham at the other end. The Kiwi pacer got the prized wicket of RR captain Sanju Samson for a paltry 3 and then got rid of Shivam Dube (3) and the dangerous Rahul Tewatia for 12 runs. RR slipped from 41-1 to 71-6.
Shivam Dube
Only one RR batsman got past 20; Rajasthan were restricted to 90-9: Neesham and Coulter-Nile shared 7 wickets between them and restricted Samson’s team to a meagre 90/9 in 20 overs. Apart from Evin Lewis (24), none of the Rajasthan Royals players managed to score 20 or more runs in the team’s innings. In fact, only four Rajasthan Royals batsmen managed to touch the double-figure mark – Lewis (24), Jaiswal (12), Miller (15), and Tewatia (12). The writing was on the wall for RR, well before the MI innings even began.
Mumbai Indians innings:
Ishan played out a maiden and then switched to top gear: With the T20 World Cup around the corner, Ishan Kishan is beginning to hit form at the right time after a string of low scores. Chasing Rajasthan Royals’ 90 in 20 overs, Ishan came out to open with captain Rohit Sharma. Ishan took one over to settle in the middle. He took 7 balls to get off the mark, playing six back-to-back dots off Chetan Sakariya’s over. And, then the Jharkhand batsman shifted gears. The southpaw scored a brilliant 50 not out off 25 balls, including 5 fours and 3 sixes, to make sure Mumbai Indians were never under any kind of pressure.
Ishan Kishan
Suryakumar Yadav failed again: Rohit fell for 22 and Suryakumar’s willow once again failed to deliver. Suryakumar, who is part of India’s squad for the World T20, managed just 13 runs before getting out to Mustafizur Rahman. At this stage MI were 56-2.
Ishan’s blazing fifty helped MI improve their NRR: The Rohit Sharma-led team needed a big win to keep their playoff hopes alive and they delivered in style. Not only did they win this must-win clash, they chased down the target in just 8.2 overs, with as many as 70 deliveries to spare. The five-time IPL champions have climbed up to fifth place with 12 points on the points tally with 6 wins and 7 losses in 13 matches. They are just behind Kolkata Knight Riders on NRR. Their NRR (-0.048) though is well behind that of KKR (+0.294).
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