Jos Buttler, who averaged 75 against MI prior to this IPL 2022 game, lived up to the expectations and scored a magnificent century, to take his side to an excellent total in the first innings, which their bowling attack defended after a brief scare in the middle overs.
The five-time Indian Premier League champions took on RR in the first game of Saturday’s double-header in at the DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai. Mumbai, who lost their second consecutive game, were without Suryakumar Yadav, who is yet to recover from a hairline fracture, with Anmolpreet Singh continuing to take his place at the number three position. MI won the toss and elected to field first, even though the dew factor was not going to be involved in the day game.
Rajasthan started by losing two quick wickets in the powerplay, but there was some superb hitting between the fall of the two wickets courtesy of Buttler, who launched a selective attack in the first six overs as he took 26 runs off Basil Thampi’s over. He was then joined by captain Sanju Samson in the sixth over, who was more of a spectator as he witnessed Buttler take off at the other end. The England international was magnificent as his consistent boundary-hitting kept the Rajasthan Royals’ run rate consistently above 10 as long as he was at the crease.
Samson was also excellent, as he struck his fair share of boundaries in his brief yet impactful innings. He Samson scored 30 in just 21 balls before getting out to the veteran Kieron Pollard while trying to up the ante. Samson’s dismissal brought in the explosive Shimron Hetmyer, who was able to pull of just what Samson was trying to do. Hetmyer completely changed the game for the Royals, scoring at a ridiculously fast rate prior to getting dismissed for 35 in just 14, at a strike rate of 250.
Jasprit Bumrah was brilliant in the death overs, as he was in the beginning. He snared the centurion Buttler shortly after he got Hetmyer’s wicket, as he restricted the Royals to 193 when it was looking as if 220 was not off the cards.
The Mumbai Indians did not begin all that well either, as captain Rohit Sharma fell early on, as a bullet of a shot off Prasidh Krishna went straight to Riyan Parag. Ishan Kishan was excellent in the powerplay, striking a couple of boundaries to keep Mumbai’s run rate healthy. Anmolpreet Singh, who came in at number three, did not last long, as he was dismissed for five by express pacer Navdeep Saini.
Singh’s wicket brought the left-handed youngster Tilak Verma into the middle. Kishan and Verma together built a spectacular partnership, as the Mumbai Indians were in the hunt for a victory. Suryakumar Yadav’s absence was barely felt as long as Tilak Verma was at the crease, as the young gun showed a lot of maturity, as he and Kishan took the Rajasthan attack to the cleaners, as MI looked like they would walk away with the game with ease.
Just as their partnership was looking to turn into a match-winning one, Kishan was dismissed by Trent Boult, thanks to a good catch by Saini at the square-leg boundary, just after he reached a superb half-century. Verma looked to step on the gas as he attacked Ashwin, hitting him for a six off the first ball of the over, only to get knocked over by the wily customer the very next ball. Yuzvendra Chahal then caused a lot of damage to the Mumbai line-up, getting rid of Tim David and Daniel Sams off successive balls, to turn the match on its head in favour of the Royals.
From that point forward, it was all Rajasthan Royals, as Murugan Ashwin struggled to get the ball away with Pollard stranded at the other end. The equation came down to 39 runs off the last two overs, with Prasidh bowling the penultimate over. Krishna bowled superbly against the veteran even creating a chance to dismiss him, only for Jaiswal to drop a tricky catch at the boundary.
Pollard managed to get a boundary, followed by a no-ball and a mix-up, which spelt the end for Murugan Ashwin. With 29 to get off the last six deliveries, Saini finished off the game for the Royals, as they wrapped up a good win.
Brief scores
Rajasthan Royals 193/8 in 20 overs Buttler 100 (68), Bumrah 3-17, Mills 3-35) beat Mumbai Indians 170-8 (Kishan 54 (43), Varma 61 (33)
