New Delhi: Defending champions Mumbai Indians have made a comeback after a string of defeats in the IPL. Mumbai won the match by seven wickets against Rajasthan Royals. Sanju Samson and his team gave Mumbai a challenging target of 172 runs.
Though this total was expected to be a challenge for Mumbai, Quinton De Kock’s match-winning innings helped Mumbai to victory. De Kock, who got back in form for the first time this season, was the man of the match for Mumbai with 70 not out. He hit 70 off 50 balls, including six fours and two sixes. In the absence of Ishan Kishan, Krunal Pandya (39), who was promoted in batting, was instrumental in Mumbai’s victory. Krunal hit two fours and a six off 26 balls. De Kock and Keiron Pollard (16 *) completed Mumbai’s victory. Skipper Rohit Sharma (14) and Suryakumar Yadav (16) did not contribute much. Mumbai reached the target in 18.3 overs for the loss of only three wickets.
Score: Rajasthan 171 for four, Mumbai 172 for three in 18.3 overs.
Rohit and De Kock put on 49 for the opening wicket. Mumbai lost Rohit in the last ball of the sixth over. Chris Morris gave Rajasthan a crucial breakthrough. After losing the toss and opting to bat, Rajasthan scored 171 for four. No one in the Rajasthan line-up could complete fifty. Captain Sanju Samson, who captained the Royals innings, was Rajasthan’s top scorer. Sanju hit 42 off 27 balls with five fours. Other notable scorers were opener Jos Buttler (41), Shivam Dube (35) and Yashaswi Jaiswal (32). Rahul Chahar took two wickets for Mumbai. Trent Bolt and Jasprit Bumrah took one wicket each.
The Buttler-Jaiswal duo gave Rajasthan a good start. Rajasthan’s run rate soared as the two started slowly and then shifted gears. The duo put on 66 for the opening wicket. Chahar dismissed Buttler in the fourth ball of the eighth over to give Mumbai the much-needed break. Buttler was stumped by wicketkeeper De Kock for attempting a shot stepping outside the crease. The innings consisted of 32 balls with three fours and three sixes.
Jaiswal and Sanju put on 25 for the second wicket. But Chahar caught Jaiswal in his own bowling and came to Mumbai’s rescue again. Jaiswal hit 32 off 20 balls, including two fours and a six. It was then that Rajasthan saw their best partnership in the innings. The Sanju-Dube duo put Rajasthan ahead with 57 runs. When the pair were at the crease, Rajasthan could have scored 190-200. But Mumbai kept Rajasthan at bay with their excellent bowling in the final overs.
In the last five overs, Rajasthan scored 45 runs. They lost both their set batsmen in these overs. Sanju was the third to leave the crease. In the 18th over, he was clean bowled by Boult’s fiery yorker. Dube was the last to return. The wicket was for Bumrah. Bumrah caught Dube with a simple catch in his own bowling. Dube’s slow scoring and his lack of footwork has come under a lot of criticism after this innings.
