It was a contest involving two lower-placed teams but there was excitement galore for the fans.
Thanks to K. Gowtham’s bristling strokeplay, Rajasthan Royals gave Mumbai Indians a defeat it won’t forget easily. From an almost-lost position, Gowtham slammed an 11-ball 33 (4x4, 2x6), finishing the contest with a massive pull off Hardik Pandya at the SMS Stadium here on Sunday.
Royals had done well to restrict Mumbai Indians, which opted to bat, to an attainable target of 168. It was always going to be a tight game once Royals failed to maintain a positive momentum.
The cheap dismissals of Ajinkya Rahane and Rahul Tripathi was not the start the home team would have wanted, but the 72-run third-wicket stand between Ben Stokes and Sanju Samson gave the home team some hope.
Jasprit Bumrah shackled Rajasthan with two blows — Samson and Jos Buttler — while left-arm spinner Krunal and Hardik Pandya seemed to have done a decent enough job for Mumbai Indians before they ran into a motivated Gowtham.
After losing a wicket in the first over, Mumbai Indians plundered 100 runs off 60 balls as Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav picked the right spots to exploit in the field.
The Royals bowlers failed to drive home the advantage gained by Dhawal Kulkarni’s fourth-ball strike and surrendered the initiative to the right-left combination of Kishan and Suryakumar.
The slow nature of the pitch was expected to assist the spinners but the bowlers gave an abysmal display much to the disappointment of the local fans.
Rajasthan’s wasteful ways resulted in easy pickings for Suryakumar and Kishan. The bowlers had no control on the length and were repeatedly dismissed with contempt.
Suryakumar hit through the line and also prospered with some innovative play. Kishan matched his partner with some forceful shots square of the wicket. The ease with which Kishan and Suryakumar hit across the line also added to the woes of the Rajasthan bowlers.
The 82-ball 129-run partnership between Kishan and Yadav formed the foundation of Mumbai Indians’ innings. Royals gave a pitiable account of its fielding.
Lack of anticipation and athleticism also hurt the Royals camp as Suryakumar and Kishan profited hugely by the lack of discipline in the opposition attack before Jofra Archer put the brakes on Mumbai Indians’ run-spree.
Royals, however, came back into the game when Kishan and Suryakumar both fell to identical skiers taken by wicketkeeper Jos Buttler at a critical stage.
Archer and Jaydev Unadkat earned respect by cramping the batsmen for room.
Archer was the pick as he claimed three wickets in his final over.
