Riding on a brilliant unbeaten hundred from Yashashvi Jaiswal (104*) and some costly reprieves from the Mumbai Indians (MI) fielders, Rajasthan Royals (RR) continued their winning run on Monday (Apr 22), completing a double over the five-time champions. The nine-wicket victory ensures that RR retain their numero uno position at the top of the points table and nearly secure the playoff spot with 14 points in the bag.
Jaiswal, who had an incredible run in red-ball cricket before the start of the IPL season but had to endure an agonising dip of form in the first seven matches, finally came good for the Royals. The left-hander got into the groove by smashing Jasprit Bumrah for two glorious cover drives in the fifth over of the innings.
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The RR batter continued the onslaught against Bumrah when he came to bowl his second spell and ensured that Royals showed the record champions they weren’t here to muck about.
For MI, Bumrah getting pelted was an indication enough that it wasn’t their night. The only blip in Jaiswal’s otherwise spotless innings came after he reached his fifty when Nehal Wadhera dropped a sitter on the boundary on the very next ball.
Jaiswal was ably supported by previous match centurion Jos Buttler as the duo stitched an aggressive 74-run opening partnership. Buttler was outdone by the veteran leg-spinner, Piyush Chawla, who cleaned him up with one of his trademark flippers.
Skipper Sanju Samson continued his underrated season by holding one end and making sure there were no unnecessary hiccups.
MI recover to post decent target
Mumbai were off to a sorry start as Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan departed in the opening two overs before no. 3, Suryakumar Yadav, also perished in the powerplay phase.
Just when it looked like MI had recovered, Chahal weaved his magic and accounted for the wicket of Mohammed Nabi which was his 200th in the tournament. With the innings tottering, the logic dictated that one of Hardik Pandya or Tim David should have come out to bat but the MI management sent Nehal Wadhera inside who was playing his first game of the season.
Wadhera joined forces with Tilak Verma and the duo crafted a 99-run partnership that got MI back into the contest. While Verma got to his fifty in 38 deliveries. Wadhera missed out on the maiden milestone by a solitary run.
Despite the platform set for a final burst, MI batters capitulated as a returning Sandeep Sharma signed off with a maiden five-fer that stopped the visitors from reaching near the 200-run mark.
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