Sanjay Manjrekar, who was supervising the toss, asked for a round of applause when Pandya witnessed, with a wry smile, further booing. Manjrekar asked the crowd to “behave”. RR captain Sanju Samson won the toss and decided to bowl first.
The rough start continued for Mumbai as Rohit Sharma was out for a golden duck. After claiming Rohit’s wicket, Trent Boult dismissed Naman Dhir on the very next ball, another golden duck for MI. Dewald Brevis was out for a golden duck as well. Meanwhile, Ishan Kishan scored a quickfire 14 off 12 balls with two 4s and one 6.
It was the partnership between skipper Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma that brought some sanity to Mumbai. They put together 56 runs, thanks to Pandya’s 34 off 21 balls, with six 4s. Varma scored 32 off 29 balls, with two 6s.
Then, Tim David was the only batter who scored in double digits (17 off 24 balls). Gerald Coetzee (4), Jasprit Bumrah (8), and Akash Madhwal (4) did not make any significant impact with their bat. Mumbai set Rajasthan a target of 126 in 20 overs in the IPL match.
Even RR batters struggled to score big. Yashasvi Jaiswal (10 off 6 balls), Jos Buttler (13 off 16 balls) and Sanju Samson (12 off 10 balls) were out soon. Rajasthan were 48/3. Then, Riyan Parag came.
Riyan’s 54 off 39 balls, with five 4s and three 6s, not only brought Rajasthan home but also helped him become the highest scorer in the tournament. He surpassed Virat Kohli to flaunt the Orange Cap. His 40-run partnership with Ravichandran Ashwin stabilized the RR innings. For Rajasthan, Akash Madhwal was the top bowler, claiming 3 wickets in his 4 overs while conceding 20 runs.
Player of the Match
Trent Boult, who took 3 wickets for 22 runs in 4 overs and destroyed Mumbai’s top order, was awarded the Player of the Match.
With these three consecutive wins, Rajasthan Royals are now sitting right on top of the points table. On the other hand, with three back-to-back losses, Mumbai Indians are right at the bottom.
Milestone Alert!
Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world -
 vs Rajasthan Royals (RR) match){kind=link}