Rohit Sharma may not have scored enough runs on his 35th birthday but his teammates gifted him with the most delightful present – Mumbai Indians’ first win at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 that came on Friday after a streak of 8 straight losses. Riding on Suryakumar Yadav’s impressive 51-run knock, the five-time champions defeated the table-toppers Rajasthan Royals by 5 wickets at DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai.
A 159-run target looked easy for Mumbai Indians but the chase began with a couple of early blows. Captain Rohit Sharma (2) fell prey to Ravichandran Ashwin in the third over while his batting partner and most expensive player of the season, Ishan Kishan could only contribute 26 runs before getting undone by Trent Boult.
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Two top-order batters falling inside the powerplay was a worrying sign but Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak Varma made sure that they steer the chase and repair the damage done by Rajasthan bowlers. The duo took batted for almost 10 overs and stitched a crucial 81-run stand for the third wicket.
Suryakumar rose to the occasion once again and scored an impressive half-century off 38 deliveries. But before he could take tale the game deeper, he was dismissed by Yuzvendra Chahal in the 15th over. The right-hand batter played a mistimed shot towards long-on and was caught by Riyan Parag. He ended up scoring 51 off 39 with the help of 2 sixes and 5 boundaries.
In the next over, Tilak Varma was bettered by Praisdh Krishan and two quick losses on successive deliveries mounted pressure back on the Mumbai camp. Two set batters were back in the hut while the onus of finishing the game fell on the shoulders of Tim David and Kieron Pollard.
But the new batting pair accepted the challenge with open arms, adding 25 runs for the fifth wicket.
Earlier, a disciplined bowling performance helped Mumbai Indians restrict Rajasthan Royals to 158/6 despite a hard-fought fifty from Jos Buttler.
Put into bat first, openers Dedvdutt Padikkal and Jos Buttler gave Rajasthan a slow start despite getting lifelines by Mumbai fielders. It was Daniel Sams, who dropped Buttler in the 2nd over of the innings bowled by Jasprit Bumrah and then Tim David dropped a simple catch of Padikkal in the very next over.
Young spinner Hirthik Shokeen finally dismissed Padikkal (15) in the 5th over to provide the first breakthrough for Mumbai Indians. Skipper Sanju Samson, who came to bat next, scored a quickfire 16 in just 7 balls with two sixes but he once again failed to carry his in longer and got out to debutant Kumar Kartikeya, leaving Rajasthan at 54-2 after 7.2 overs.
Buttler tried to up the ante but he wasn’t able to do it due to disciplined bowling by Mumbai and slowness of the pitch. The constant pressure from the MI bowlers dried the boundaries during the middle phase and eventually brought the wicket of Daryl Mitchell in the very first ball of the 15th over bowled by Sams.
Ashwin came in and played a fine cameo which provided the boost to RR’s innings before getting out. However, Daniel Sams bowled an incredible final over to Shimron Hetmyer, conceding just 3 runs and restricted Rajasthan to 158/6 in 20 overs.
(With Agency Inputs)
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