Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) skipper Steven Smith alongside teenage sensation Riyan Parag has handed a five-wicket win over visitors Mumbai Indians (MI) on Saturday evening. The duo has stitch 70-run partnership off 57 deliveries for the fourth wicket. In the match number 36 of the IPL 36, hosts overhauled the target of 162 in 19.1 overs.
Thus, they have won three matches in their nine matches. Smith remained unbeaten on 59 off 48. His innings was laced with five fours and a six.
Besides, Stuart Binny remained not out on seven off four balls.
At the fag end of innings, Parag returned to the hut when a rocket-like throw from Ben Cutting saw Hardik Pandya dislodging the zing bails in a flash. Parag scored 43 off 29 balls. He struck five fours and a six during his impressive knock.
After a brief lull, Jasprit Bumrah trapped Ashton Turner in front of the wickets. He returned to the pavilion on a nought while repeating his previous game where he was dismissed on the very first ball he had faced.
Turning Point:
The quickfire partnership between Smith and Parag has set the momentum for the Royals. The duo played some delightful strokes to entertain the home crowd.
2nd innings – Rajasthan Royals –
On a difficult-looking batting surface, while aiming to chase down a target of 162, hosts had a quick start. Ajinkya Rahane alongside Sanju Samson put up 39 runs for the first wicket in just 3.4 overs.
But, when Rahane score run-a-ball 12, he was dismissed by Rahul Chahar following a simple catch from Suryakumar Yadav.
However, Smith backed himself to stitch a crucial 37-run partnership for the second wicket alongside Samson.
However, Chahar brought back visitors to bag two wickets in the eighth over. The 19-year-old leg-spinner has deceived Samson before sending Ben Stokes back to the pavilion.
Samson faced 19 balls to score quickfire 35. His innings was laced with six fours and a six.
Chahar bagged first three wickets by giving away 29 runs in four overs.
Here’s the detailed scorecard of Rajasthan Royals:
1st Innings – Mumbai Indians:
Earlier, Royals newly-appointed skipper Smith won the toss to field first.
On a slowish pitch, hosts bowled quite well to keep things tight against visitors — the guest post 161 for five in 20 allotted overs.
For the home team, Jofra Archer alongside Shreyas Gopal has bowled their heart out. But Archer had missed three catches in the deep which somewhat allowed Indians to go past the 150-run mark.
Gopal conceded 21 runs for his two wickets in four overs, whereas, Archer gave away 22 runs in as many overs to pick a wicket of dangerous-looking Hardik Pandya.
Indians’ innings had a wobbling start when they lost skipper Rohit Sharma 5 (7) following a caught and bowled chance from Gopal.
The wicketkeeper-batsman and southpaw Quinton de Kock ended up as a top scorer with 65 off 46 balls. He has struck six fours and two sixes.
On the other side, Suryakumar Yadav has shown some promise at the top on scoring 33-ball 34 with the help of a six and a four respectively.
For the second wicket, Suryakumar alongside de Kock has stitched crucial 97-run partnership off just 68 balls.
Hardik Pandya, who was promoted up the order scored 15-ball 23. He got a couple of opportunities before failing to make most of it.
Hardik and Ben Cutting tried to provide impetus by stitching a 14-ball 28 run partnership for the fifth wicket.
Kieron Pollard got a beauty from Jaydev Unadkat, who remained a bit unlucky in terms of wickets column. Pollard faced seven balls for ten runs before Cutting remained unbeaten on 13 off nine balls.
Well, Krunal Pandya scored run-a-ball two.
Furthermore, Stuart Binny bagged a wicket while giving away 19 runs. Whereas, Riyan Parag and Dhawal Kulkarni remained wicketless.
Here’s the detailed scorecard of MI:
