Picture : IPL / X
Rajasthan Royals continued to their terrific run at their fortress Jaipur as they routed five- time winners Mumbai Indians by 9 wickets in a Tata IPL 2024 encounter.
Earlier, Mumbai Indians Skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to bat first . Trent Boult showed why is the best bowler in power plays and the most consistent in taking wickets in first over.
After getting Rohit Sharma off the fifth ball in the first over in the previous clash at Wankhede, Boult got Rohit again on the fifth ball in the first over for 6 in Jaipur . On both occasions he was caught by RR Skipper Sanju Samson. MI were joled early. Then Ishan Kishan too was out cheaply for 0. MI 6/ 2 . in- form Suryakumar Yadav was next dismissed for 10. MI struggling at 20/ 3 .
But the repair was done by Mohammad Nabi who scored a quick 23 ( 17 balls , 2 fours, 1 six) and Tilak Varma who scored a brilliant 65 ( 45 balls , 5 fours , 3 sixes). Nehal Wadhera coming ahead of MI skipper Hardik Pndya surprised many. But the young batsmen excelled. V Nehal Wadhera was unlucky not get to his fifty out for 49 ( 24 balls, 3 fours, 4 sixes) . It lifted MI innings considerably . MI power hitters were given the stage by Tilak C Varma to explode but they flopped.
MI Skipper Hardik Pandya’s flop run with the bat continued out for 10. Time David was out for 3 . MI who looked at one stage nearing 200 were struggling . Flurry of wickets towards the end dented their chances and MI could manage 179/ 9 in their 20 overs.
For RR , Sandeep Sharma was outstanding with superb figures of 5/ 18 ( 4 overs) , Trent Boult 2/ 32 ( 4 overs), Avesh Khan was expensive 1/ 49 ( 4 overs), Yuzvendra Chahal picked his 200th IPL wicket 1/ 48 ( 4 overs), Ravichandran Ashwin 0/ 31 ( 4 overs)
In Reply RR , got off to a flier with openers in- form Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal. The duo smashed the MI bowlers in the power play racing to 61/ 0 in 6 overs. Buttler looked set for big one before he was foxed by Piyush Chawla for 35 ( 25 balls, 6 fours). RR total 74/ 1 in 8 overs .
Yashasvi Jaiswal who had a terrific Test series against England coming into Tata IPL 2024 , finally blasted his way back to form with a superb 104 not out ( 60 balls, 9 fours, 7 sixes) and along with RR Skipper Sanju Samson 38 not out ( 28 balls , 2 fours , 2 sixes) frustrated MI as they stitched together a match- winning partnership.
The duo put on 105 run(s) in 64 ball(s). RR finishing at 183/ 1 in 18.4 overs . The chase by RR was solid one with no hiccups,
MI were let down by poor bowling and average fielding with many miss fields and dropped catches adding to their woes .
Mumbai Indian bowling figures : Hardik Pandya 0/ 21 ( 2 overs) was wayward. Jasprit Bumrah 0/ 37 ( 4 overs) rare wicketless outing. Nuwan Thushara 0/ 28 ( 3 overs), Gerald Coetzee 0/ 25 ( 2 overs), Mohammad Nabi 0/ 30 ( 3 overs) , Piyush Chawla 1/ 33 ( 4 overs) , Tilak Varma 0/8 ( 0.4 overs)
RR Impact Player: Jos Buttler replaces Yuzvendra Chahal
Match: IPL 2024, 38th Match
Venue: Jaipur | Date: April 22, 2024
