Rajasthan Royals (RR) registered a convincing victory of 27 runs over the Mumbai Indians (MI). Yashasvi Jaiswal’s stupendous unbeaten knock was the difference in the end. Yashasvi Jaiswal showed nerves of steel in a short match of 11 overs. RR have now won 3 out of 3 matches & have topped the points table, whereas MI have suffered two back-to-back defeats and have 1 win to their name & are at 7th position in points table.
Yashasvi Jaiswal & Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hammer MI
After being asked to bat first by MI in a truncated match of 11 overs, Yashasvi Jaiswal & Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s intent was commendable. In the very first over, Yashasvi Jaiswal clobbered 22 runs on the bowling of Deepak Chahar, who was whacked all around the park & hit 3 fours and 1 six. The much-anticipated encounter of yorker-specialist Jasprit Bumrah & young prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was a memorable one as the tyro batter hit him for a six at deep mid-wicket, as Bumrah also was taken to cleaners, who conceded 14 runs.
Yashasvi Jaiswal was toying with the bowlers; it looked as if book cricket was going on. The powerplay overs of 3.2 overs yielded a whopping 59 runs as a world-class MI’s bowling unit looked off-color. The introduction of Shardul Thakur in the 5th over broke the deadly partnership of Yashasvi & Vaibhav as Vaibhav couldn’t clear the deep extra cover fielder, as the ploy worked perfectly for MI. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was dismissed on 39 runs in 14 balls & he smashed 5 monstrous sixes and 1 four as RR’s score was 80-1 in 5 overs.
The middle overs phase from 6 to 8 overs slowed down the things for MI, who stopped the flurry of boundaries. Yashasvi Jaiswal was steadfast in his approach & made sure that there is no need to panic. Riyan Parag played a mini cameo of 20 runs in 10 balls as Allah Ghazanfar took his second wicket of the match. RR’s score at the end of 9 overs was 122-3.
Yashasvi Jaiswal’s approach was quite calculative. In the 11th over, Yashasvi took RR’s score to 150-3 as Shardul Thakur’s wide off-stump trick was easily tackled, as in that over, 3 wides were bowled by Shardul. RR hit 11 fours and 11 sixes in their innings, which was massive. Yashasvi Jaiswal’s unbeaten knock of 77 runs in 32 balls (*10 fours and 4 sixes) laid a solid foundation for the hosts.
RR’s bowlers dismantle MI
MI needed a rollicking start to the steep run chase of 151, but that didn’t happen. Ryan Rickelton was undone by Jofra Archer’s express pace as he wasn’t able to slash the ball properly. Suryakumar Yadav was outfoxed by a pace off delivery in the 2nd over by Nandre Burger as Suryakumar was out on 6 runs in 3 balls. MI’s score at the end of 2 overs was 22-2.
Just when MI needed Rohit Sharma to up the ante, Sandeep Sharma trapped MI’s veteran batter as a premeditated lap shot was missed completely. MI was in deep trouble at 22-3 in 2.3 overs. Hardik Pandya & Tilak Varma tried to put some life back into the run chase. MI’s score was 36-3 in 4 overs as the match was slipping from their hands.
Ravi Bishnoi was the impact player sub for RR who came in place of Donovan Fereria.In the 5th over, Ravi Bishnoi duped Hardik & Tilak; the duo wasn’t able to pick his variations. MI was reeling at 46-5 in 5 overs; the visiting team needed 105 runs from 6 overs, which was a herculean task even to attain, even in modern-day cricket.
Sherfane Rutherford came in as an impact player for MI, replacing Allah Ghazanfar. Rutherford was dropped by Yashasvi Jaiswal when he was on 0 & MI needed 91 from 30 balls. It felt as if Rutherford would make RR pay heavily. In the 8th over, Tushar Deshpande though deceived Sherfane with pace off delivery, and he gave a catch to short third man. Rutherford, we can say, gave a scare to RR who scored 25 runs in 8 balls and smashed 2 fours and 2 sixes. At dismissal of Rutherford, MI’s score was 93-6 in 7.5 overs.
RR’s bowlers displayed a disciplined bowling approach. There were very rare freebies being bowled. Not a single MI batter scored 30 runs, which is not acceptable, especially in a very short match. Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma & Ravi Bishnoi took 2 wickets apiece and broke the back of MI’s batting line-up.
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