Rajasthan Royals pulled off a thumping win over Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium and presented a strong claim to make it for the playoffs. Chasing 168 runs to win, Rajasthan Royals cruised home with their in-form batsman Jos Buttler smashing his fifth consecutive half-century by which he has equaled the IPL record. The turning point of the match occurred in the first innings of the match as Mumbai failed to post an above-par total.
The start from Mumbai Indians was the one that we are used to it by now. Surya Kumar Yadav, who is in smashing form this season, played another beautiful inning. This time, his fellow West Indian opener Evin Lewis also joined the feast and scored well.
The opening partnership accounted for 87 runs in the first 64 balls. In a bid to break the partnership, Ajinkya Rahane brought back Jofra Archer back into the bowling attack. The move paid off really well and in fact became the turning point of the match.
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Surya was the first to get out for 38(31). He was caught at the deep square leg by Unadkat on the bowling off Jofra Archer. The West Indian fast bowler bowled a short ball and Surya unable to keep it down sent it straight into the hands of Jaidev Unadkat. MI – 87/1.
Rohit Sharma, the Mumbai Indian captain came out to bat at the number 3 position. He just provided the action replay to the crowd and got out in exactly the same way on the next ball. Mumbai lost two quick wickets and lost all the gathered momentum.
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From there, Mumbai’s innings went downhill. Ishan Kishan, Krunal Pandya, and Hardik Pandya all struggled to time the ball and the scoring rate took the hit. It was only in the last two overs that Hardik Pandya and Ben Cutting managed to hit a few big shots. The duo added 37 runs in the last 19 balls. The total of 168, in the end, was way below par.
