Abu Dhabi: In yet another all-round show, reigning champions Mumbai Indians (MI) rode pacer Jasprit Bumrah’s four-wicket haul and Suryakumar Yadav’s blistering unbeaten 79 to thrash Rajasthan Royals by 57 runs in the 20th IPL match at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium here on Tuesday.
Bumrah’s match-winning figures of 4/20 were also his best ever in the history of the league. Apart from him, James Pattinson (2/19) and Trent Boult (2/26) scalped couple of wickets each to restrict RR to a sub-par total of 136 all out in 18.1 overs. MI, after winning the toss and batting first, had scored 193 for four wickets in 20 overs.
The win also helped MI reclaim the top-spot on the points-table with eight points from six matches while RR slipped to the seventh place with four from five games.
Chasing the target, RR was off to the worst possible start as they lost four of their top-order batsmen — Yashasvi Jaiswal (0), Steven Smith (6), Sanju Samson (0), and Mahipal Lomror (11) — with just 42 runs on board in 8.1 overs.
While Trent Boult dismissed Jaiswal and Samson, Smith and Lomror became victims of Jasprit Bumrah and Rahul Chahar.
Opener Jos Buttler (70) tried his best to keep his side in the hunt with some lusty blows but lacked support from other RR batters.
Along with Tom Curran (15), Buttler tried his best to avoid a batting collapse as they shared a 56-run partnership for the fifth wicket.
However, James Pattinson didn’t let the England stumper succeed as he sent back Buttler in the 14th over with RR still 96 runs away from the target. Buttler’s valiant knock off 44 balls contained four boundaries and five maximums.
Shortly after Buttler, Curran, too, departed off a Keiron Pollard delivery as RR scorecard read 108/6. Bumrah, who looked in a hurry to finish things off as early as possible, packed up Rahul Tewatia (5), Shreyas Gopal (1) and Jofra Archer (24) in quick succession, leaving RR at 136/9 in 18 overs.
Pattinson performed the final rites of RR, dismissing Ankit Rajpoot (2) off the first ball of the penultimate over to set up a comfortable victory for the reigning champions.
Earlier, Suryakumar Yadav’s superb effort (79 unbeaten) helped MI post 193/4 in the allotted 20 overs. Yadav, who faced 47 deliveries, smashed 11 boundaries and two sixes during the course of his innings.
MI, opting to bat, was off to a decent start as openers Rohit Sharma (35) and Quinton de Kock (23)added 49 runs for the first wicket before debutant Kartik Tyagi dismissed the latter in the fifth over.
MI lost another two wickets of Rohit and Ishan Kishan, who failed to open his account, within another 39 runs as their scorecard read 88/3 in 9.2 overs.
Yadav, however, kept the scorers busy and tried to repair the damage with Krunal Pandya (12) as the pair was involved in a brief 29-run stand for the fourth wicket. Krunal became a victim of Jofra Archer in the 14th over which saw MI being placed at 117/4.
Hardik Pandya (30 not out) then stabilised the MI innings with Yadav. The duo shared a 76-run partnership off the last 38 balls to propel MI to a respectable total.
Brief scores: Mumbai Indians: 193/4 wkts in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 79 not out, Rohit Sharma 35; Shreyas Gopal 2/28) beat Rajasthan Royals: 136 all out in 18.1 overs (Jos Buttler 70, Jofra Archer 24; Jasprit Bumrah 4/20) by 57 runs
Kalinga AI