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 Indian Premier League (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 Mumbai Indians to 125 for nine, before Riyan Parag (54 not out, 39b, 5x4, 3x6) guided the visiting team to a six-wicket victory.
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 two for one, 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.
When Burger, who has enjoyed success in the tournament so far, accounted for Ishan Kishan, Mumbai Indians was gasping for breath at 20 for four in the fifth over. Amid booing from the stands, captain Hardik took a fresh guard and attempted to rebuild the innings.
His counter-attacking approach reaped rewards and brought some joy in the Mumbai Indians camp, as 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.
From there on, Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin took things in their stride and broke the back of 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
Yashasvi Jaiswal’s lean patch continued as he chipped one straight to cover off Maphaka before Madhwal cleaned up Samson and followed it up by nabbing Jos Buttler.
Precariously placed at 48 for three, things could have gone haywire for Royals had Riyan not forged a crucial 40-run stand with Ashwin. That slow-but-steady partnership turned the game in Royals’ favour.
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 4.3 overs to spare.
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