From booing captain Hardik Pandya to turning up in large numbers donning the jerseys of erstwhile captain Rohit Sharma – the Mumbai Indians fans ensured there was no dearth of drama in a lead-up to the team’s first home fixture of the IPL season at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday.
MI vs RR Highlights Indian Premier League 2024
But as the evening progressed, Rajasthan Royals’ pace duo – Trent Boult and Nandre Burger – took the fizz out of the contest and restricted the Mumbai Indians to 125 for 9, before Riyan Parag (54 not out, 39b, 5×4, 3×6) guided the visiting team to a six-wicket victory, with yet another gritty fifty.
Coming on the back of two consecutive defeats, Mumbai Indians had to block out the outside noise and focus on bringing its campaign back on track.
However, on a surface that was supposed to be favourable to the batters, the seasoned Boult struck in the last two deliveries of his opening over as Rohit poked at one that swung away to be caught by Sanju Samson behind the stumps. He followed it by trapping Naman Dhir leg before in the final delivery of the over.
Mumbai Indians – Rajasthan Royals 2024 Scorecard
With the team struggling at 2 for 1, Dhir was replaced with Dewald Brevis as an Impact Player. However, the move did not click as the new ball swung, Brevis struggled to get going and was caught at gully by Burger in Boult’s next over.
And as Burger, who has enjoyed success in the tournament so far, accounted for Ishan, Mumbai Indians was gasping for breath at 20 for 4 in the fifth over. Amid booing from the stands, captain Hardik took a fresh guard and attempted to rebuild the innings.
While his counter-attacking approach reaped rewards and brought some joy in the Mumbai Indians camp, the captain forged a 56-run stand for the fifth wicket with Tilak Varma before Yuzvendra Chahal struck. After troubling the seasoned campaigner for a bit, Chahal tempted Hardik to hole out at long-on.
Thereon, Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin took things in their stride and broke the back of the Mumbai Indians lower-order as none of its campaigners stepped up and delivered a stand-out performance.
A below-par target should have been a cakewalk for Rajasthan Royals, but it stuttered a bit in the PowerPlay with Akash Madhwal and Kwena Maphaka troubling the top-three batters.
Riyan Parag smashed a brilliant unbeaten 39-ball 54 to guide his team home.
| Photo Credit:
EMMANUAL YOGINI/The Hindu
Riyan Parag smashed a brilliant unbeaten 39-ball 54 to guide his team home.
| Photo Credit:
EMMANUAL YOGINI/The Hindu
Yashasvi Jaiswal’s lean patch continued, as he chipped one straight to covers off Maphaka before Madhwal cleaned up Sanju and followed it up with Jos Buttler.
Precariously placed at 48 for 3, things could have gone haywire for the Royals had Riyan not forged a crucial 40-run stand with Ashwin and that slow-but-steady partnership turned the game Royals’ way.
By the time Madhwal dismissed Ashwin, Riyan looked set, and the 22-year-old, who has turned a new leaf this season, took the onus on himself. He wrapped things up with two sixes and a four off Gerald Coetzee to not only bring up his second consecutive half-century of the season, but also guide the team home with four overs to spare.
